Before the last petal falls
by cheshirecat9116
Summary: Once upon a time, there lived a misunderstood princess who was cursed by an Enchantress, an intelligent country boy who desires more than the simple provincial life he leads and a castle full of enchanted objects who spend night and day trying to get them to fall in love before the last petal falls...
1. Chapter 1

_Once upon a time, in a far away land... There was a young princess who lived in a shinning castle... She had everything she ever wanted... Everything except loving parents...While she was sweet, innocent and caring. Her parents were cold, calculating and cruel often belittling and punishing not only the servants but also their only daughter. _

_To try and achieve some sort of approval or even affection from her parents... The princess did all she could to be the daughter they desired... Graceful, poised, did not speak unless spoken to... Even this sort of behavior didn't faze the King and Queen and they continued treating her like she was part of the furniture. ... Dejected, the princess would often barricade herself in her own room. Not coming out unless told to, or to attend her lessons... Soon she became for lack of a better word... Numb towards everyone and everything around her... The servants found this disturbing... to see such a lovely young girl become so withdrawn... Feeling sorry for the lonely princess, they tried over and over to befriend her. However whenever asked to be accompanied, she always denied, stating she preferred to be alone... Slowly, one by one they all gave up. _

_The princess spent day and night...reading. She loved books... she surrounded herself within them... Drowned herself within them... Devouring story after story... Books provided an escape and a sense of protection from the everyday emptiness and pain she felt... So that was what she did for years... When the princess was eleven years old, her parents left her alone in the castle with the servants for the very first time while they attended a royal conference... The princess was naturally overjoyed. The whole castle to herself and of course she took advantage of it, roaming the hallways, exploring the supposedly out of bounds rooms, staying up late..._

_It was nearing midnight, one freezing cold December night, when an unfamiliar knock on the doors echoed around the castle. The princess looked up from her storybook..._

_"Mama, papa... they're back!" she thought excitedly. They promised they would return on her birthday... So it had to be them! Throwing off her blankets, she ran down the spiraling staircase barely able to contain her anticipation. However when the princess threw open the palace doors, it was not the King and Queen who graced her with their presence but a haggard, filthy and extremely ugly old beggar woman..._

_The princess stood there dumbfounded before regaining her composure._

_"What do you want..." she demanded silkily, trying to imitate her mother while wrapping her dressing gown tighter around herself... barely able to stop her teeth chattering from the bitter cold._

_"Please... would you provide me a place to rest for the night in exchange for this rose..." the beggar woman croaked softly her whole body trembling like a leaf._

_The princess's pale face remained emotionless but her piercing gaze did soften._

_"A rose?" _

_"An enchanted rose..."_

_And from her tattered cloak, the beggar woman pulled out the most beautiful red rose... Spellbound by the ruby red glow emanating from the perfect flower... the princess couldn't help but gape like a fish out of water. It was nothing like she had ever seen before... Everything about it was perfect... The size, the shape, the color even the petals... The petals... All perfectly shaped and layered over each other, glistening every so slightly almost as if made out of tiny diamonds... Finally, the princess broke out of her trance and removed her dressing gown. Handing it to the crone._

_"The stables are to your left... You may use this... should the hay not be enough..."_

_"Child... I've been out here for days without food or water... I beseech you to..." _

_The princess shook her head... Although her conscious did tell her to let the poor woman in... She feared what her parents might do to her if they found out... It wouldn't be the first time the King and Queen had punished their daughter for this sort of thing...Besides... they would be returning soon..._

_"Either take what you have or leave!" the princess said sternly before turning away to return to the warmness of her room. However, before the princess could even reach for the door to slam it shut. The beggar woman suddenly began to glow and grow in height until she towered over the cowering princess. With a wave of her hand, the crone's ugliness melted away to reveal the most beautiful woman the princess and maybe even the world had ever seen. Her long billowing hair looked like silky strands of melted gold making the princess's own curls seem plain or even dull in comparison. Her face was ebony white, with features that would make any beauty cry with envy, her eyes were the most dangerous shade of blue... Like a sea during the storm..._

_Instinctively, the princess threw herself to her knees..._

_"Forgive me... I didn't know... I..."_

_" So the rumors I've heard were true... A faraway castle... There lives a selfish king... who married a selfish queen... who then went on to give birth to a selfish princess..."_

_"Please... I beg of you..."_

_"You have been deceived by your own cold heart... You know nothing of love and thus a curse upon your castle and all within it..."_

_Terrified beyond all measure now. The princess turned and slammed the doors firmly shut before the Enchantress even had the chance to finish... Deciding the most logical thing to do was to get as far away from her as possible, the princess ran away from the large doors only to be confronted by something far worse... As all over the castle, servants were waking up screaming and crying as they witnessed themselves and each other transform... As the princess ran past the kitchen, she saw Miss Potts the kindly old lady cry out mournfully as she held all her children tightly as their skin took the appearance of fine china... Burying her face in her hands, the princess ran up the stairs gasping in horror as Cogsworth ran past her shrieking and shrinking with every centimeter he ran... Unable to contain the creeping fear that was climbing up her spine... The princess continued running into the long corridor only to scream loudly as Lumiere the normally cheerful butler turned to face her... His face was disfigured... His features falling all over each other as if they were made of melting wax... Closing her eyes... the princess immediately turned the other way... Not stopping until she flung herself into the safety of her own room..._

_She backed away from the doors... Her hands over her ears... Doing the best she could to drown out the haunting screams of her servants... _

_"Now for you..." came a chilling voice from the balcony._

_The princess spun around to see no other than the Enchantress herself hovering over her balcony, her arms crossed, a smile plastered over her face._

_"Please..." the princess begged tears rolling down her face as the Enchantress hovered closer and closer towards her..._

_"You shall now be known forever as what you truly are... A beast..." and with a blinding flash of light, the princess screamed as the curse took hold... The agony itself was unbearable but watching her hands lengthen and grow thick brown fur all over them... to watch sharp claws extend from her delicate hands... to feel the large fangs sprout and take up whatever space she had in her small mouth... It nearly drove her into a maniac like fit... She screamed over and over, hoping, praying the Enchantress would stop and forgive her... _

_Finally, the agony stopped and the princess slumped to the ground shaking and shivering. She tried to get on her feet but found out that there was something horribly wrong with her knees and there was some infuriating object that just kept getting in between her legs. Frustrated, she reached out to tear that object, whatever it was; off only to roar in pain realizing it was a tail... Her tail..._

_"No..." the princess whispered. Hesitantly she turned to look at her mirror, barely stifling a scream at her own reflection._

_"NO!"_

_Hours later... The King and Queen finally returned to their castle. At first shocked by the sheer emptiness of the castle... Their shock was quickly replaced by all consuming fear when they entered their daughter's bedroom. Instead of the beautiful, charming princess, widely known across the seven seas for her beauty... There stood, in her place... A terrifying, monstrous beast..._

_"Mama... Papa..." it had said before reaching out with its dangerous clawed paws..._

_Repulsed by the sheer thought that this monster before them could be their daughter, the King and Queen fled... Never to be heard from again... Rumor has it that they had drowned in a shipwreck set for the Netherlands... But it no longer mattered to the princess..._

_Ashamed of her monstrous form, she had set off to destroy every mirror, every painting, and every portrait of her and her parents. By the time she was finished, her hands were soaked in blood from smashing so many mirrors... Tired, she retreated back to her room... Resting her head on a stone table, she proceeded to cry her heart out before a flash of green light caught her attention. There... on her bed lay a hand held mirror the princess had no recollection of ever owning... Enraged, she picked it up, ready to fling it out of the balcony only to stop when a familiar icy voice emanated from the mirror._

_"Don't be foolish..." the Enchantress's voice warned. The princess looked into the mirror only to see the Enchantress's face stare back at her._

_"What do you want... Haven't you done enough? " The princess growled bitterly._

_" Don't make me regret the pity I feel for you child..." the Enchantress warned icily._

_The princess rolled her eyes but held her tongue._

_"It may seem child... I've judged you too harshly for you have indeed shown me a shred of kindness..." Without warning, the nightgown the princess had handed to the crone materialized onto her bed._

_"For that one act of kindness... I reward you this mirror... It will show you anything you wish to see. Your window to the outside world... I also reward you with this rose... It will bloom until you're twenty first year. If you learn to love someone and earn his love back in return by the time the last petal falls... The enchantment will be broken... If you fail... You will be doomed to remain a beast for all eternity..." and with that, the enchantress disappeared leaving the princess to stare at her beastly reflection..._

_Years passed... and the princess fell into despair, losing all hope for a man to fall in love with her... Her parents' abandonment was enough to prove to her that no one will ever want her... For who could ever learn to love a beast..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello readers... I think you might have figured out this is a gender bend... I hope you like it because its the first time I'm trying something like this and a disney fanfic, so it will mean the word to me if you leave reviews :) The longer the review the longer the chapter... Anyway thats it and please enjoy... (Also... Thanks jorholic73 for reviewing,you absolutely made my day :D)**

Miles away... In a little town, a quiet village, a young man named Beau Chevalier walked out of his house. Beau smiled enjoying the morning's fresh air.

"Everyday like the one before..." he sighed sadly before setting off.

As he walked through the streets, he casually greeted the baker with his tray like always, the barber and the egg seller, completely ignoring the gossip surrounding him...

"Look there he goes..."

"Dazed and distracted can't you tell..."

"He's never part of any crowd..."

" Because his head's up on some cloud..."

Beau couldn't help but snicker... His head wasn't up "on some cloud"... He just believed that there were more exciting things than this provincial life he was leading. Shaking his head, he entered the bookstore.

"Ahh Beau... My favorite customer..." the kindly old storeowner exclaimed happily.

"Morning monsieur... Came to return the book I borrowed..." Beau smiled carefully pulling out the precious book from his shoulder bag.

"Finished already?"

"Well I'm leaving for university in three days... I couldn't afford to put it down... Do you have anything new?"

The owner couldn't help but chuckle.

"Not since yesterday..."

"That's fine.. I'll take... this one..." Beau mumbled handing the old man a well bound book.

"This one? But you've read it twice!"

"Can't help it... It's my favorite..." Beau admitted sheepishly.

"Well... If you like it all that much... It's yours!"

Beau shook his head in surprise.

"But sir..."

"I insist!" the owner protested, shoving it into Beau's arms.

"Well then thank you... Thank you very much!" Beau called as he walked out of the bookstore.

Excited, Beau immediately proceeded to open the book and read it. Before he could even finish the first page, a large, strapping mountain of a man blocked his way.

"Beau!" the man boomed.

"Gaston!" Beau smiled, before grunting heavily as his larger friend patted him heftily on the back.

"Getting stronger I see... Thought I'd be used to it by now, considering you used to do that all the time before you went off on that hunting trip of yours...Welcome back... " Beau joked.

"Right... How long has it been? A year?"

"And a half..." Beau corrected before smiling sadly knowing all too well why his friend had returned.

"I'm sorry about your father..."

Gaston shrugged though the pain in his eyes was all too obvious.

"He was careless... Driving a carriage drunk... Should have known..." he mumbled bitterly.

Beau patted Gaston's back only to have his hand pushed away.

"It's fine really... We weren't even close my father and I... Guinevere was his favorite... Spoiled her rotten..."

"My ears are burning..." came a piercing voice causing the two men to turn around.

Before them stood a tall raven haired woman with an impressive curvaceous figure, sewn into a promiscuous red dress showing off her impressive chest and wasp like waist turning the heads of men everywhere. She smiled voluptuously a predatory like gleam in her ice blue eyes.

"Hi Beau..." she cooed waving her gloved hand affectionately without sparing her older brother a second glance.

"Bonjour Guinevere..." Beau said politely only to have his book snatched from him.

"Guinevere, can I have my book please?" Beau requested trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. Guinevere pouted,

"Oh come on Beau, it's the last time I get to see you again... In a long, so very long time..." she cajoled dramatically.

Beau rolled his eyes but smiled.

"I'm only going to university... I'll be back to see father, you and Gaston in a year or so... Speaking of which..."

Guinevere yawned. "Oh yes my dear brother, owner of the tavern and the new village hunter... Yes yes yes... We're all so so so proud... But enough about him... I want to talk about us..."

Beau gulped nervously while Gaston attempted to hide an amused smirk.

"Us?" Beau repeated skeptically finally snatching his book back. With great gusto, Guinevere draped her arms around the unsuspecting Beau causing the hairs on his neck to prickle uncomfortably...

"Yes us... I never get to see you... You're always at home... or travelling with your father or busy or reading those god awful boring books..."

Beau chuckled.

"Books aren't boring Guinevere... You just need to..."

"What I'm trying to say is... We should spend more time together... So much more time! How about we go to tavern right now and..."

Beau hastily untangled himself from Guinevere and smiled uneasily.

"Guinevere... I'd love to but I have to go back and help my father..."

Guinevere's attractive face became contorted for a second before she threw her head back to cackle. "That old loon? He needs all the help he can get!" she sneered cruelly.

Beau's smile broke apart to be replaced by a stern frown.

"Don't talk about my father that way..." he told a still cackling Guinevere.

"Yeah don' talk about his father that way!" Gaston reprimanded only to be met with more cackles from his sister.

"My father isn't crazy. He's a genius, he's..."

An ear-deafening boom interrupted Beau causing all three of them to turn around. From Beau's house there was a visible trail of smoke seeping out of the windows and the chimney. Worried, Beau quickly ran off while Guinevere smirked knowingly at a bewildered Gaston.


	3. Chapter 3

**Merry christmas readers... Unfortunately I'm having doubts about this fic... This was a trial and error thing and I'm guessing its not working... I thought about stopping it since the last chapter but since its christmas, I'll give the third chapter a shot... Pls leave some reviews! GOOD ,BAD ITS FINE...Your reviews will be the best christmas presents I can ask for this year... so please? Well thats it enjoy :)**

"Father?" Beau called worried as he wrenched open the doors to the basement only to cough heavily as more thick smoke exploded in his face.

"Father..."

"I'M DONE WITH THIS HUGE HUNK OF JUNK!" came an angry yell followed by a thud and a howl of pain.

"Father... Are you alright?" Beau asked helping his portly father, Maurice back onto his feet.

"I'm perfectly fine...No more inventing from now on..." Maurice declared giving the strange contraption next to him a hearty kick only to yowl in pain again. Beau rolled his eyes.

"You always say that..." he reminded the grumpy old man.

"I mean it this time! My God! I'll never get this boneheaded contraption to work!" Maurice ranted angrily pointing an accusing finger at the machine like it had done something terribly wrong. Beau patted his father on the back.

"Yes you will... What was wrong with it anyway?"

"I don't know... It started up fine but hallway it just exploded... It runs on kinetic energy you see...starting from the boiler which provides the energy which turns the gears, which moves the ropes thus moving the axe..." Maurice explained.

Beau took a closer look at the machine and upon closer inspection he smiled. He knew what was wrong...

"Father... the steam has to come from the steamer and travel through other sections in order to power the gears...

"Yes... I believe I just told you that... Why?"

"Well let's say there's a loose link... Which..."

"Which breaks the conversion of energy! Thus resulting in... I think I've got it!" and with that Maurice slid back under the machine.

"Pass me that dog-legged clincher there..." he called. Obediently, Beau fumbled around in the toolbox before handing his father the tool.

"Thank you... So... How was town today?" Maurice asked casually.

Beau shrugged. "Same old I guess..." before an uncomfortable feeling settled over him...

"Father? Do you think I'm... Well... Odd?" Beau asked uneasily, dreading the answer.

"My son odd?" Maurice asked in disbelief as he poked his head out from under the machine, looking ridiculous with a pair of oversized goggles.

"Where would you get an idea like that?"

Beau chuckled, unable to bring himself to state the obvious.

"I don't know... I just feel like I don't belong... That I don't have anyone to talk to here..." Beau admitted in almost a sad way.

"That's because you haven't done a great deal to make yourself accessible..." Maurice thought but held his tongue. It was true... Beau had always been much of an introvert... Not that he was unfriendly... He just didn't fit in the mold of what villagers thought a young man like Beau ought to be. Beau didn't like to hunt, he didn't like to fish, he wasn't a sodomite but he had no interest in chasing girls his age either...

"How about Gaston? You two were like brothers..." Maurice suggested, remembering the latter as children. Beau grunted.

"We were... But he has... responsibilities now... Providing food for the tavern is no easy task... And I certainly don't want to be a cause of distraction..."

Maurice racked his brains...

"His sister, Guinevere... She's quite a looker... Very attractive girl..."

Beau snorted loudly.

"She's attractive alright... And arrogant, self centered and so incredibly conceited... Father... She's just not for me..."

Maurice sighed and shook his head, but he knew by Beau's tone that his son no longer wanted to continue with this conversation. So, being the understanding father that he was, Maurice didn't press on. Instead he reached for the lever.

"Right, I think I've got it! Shall we give it a go?" Maurice chuckled, faking enthusiasm. Beau nodded; before hastily making his way behind a table should anymore explosions occur... With a quick yank, Maurice joined Beau behind the table... Father and son watched in both fear and anticipation as the machine gave a few quick jerks before the axe raised itself and to Maurice's delight sliced a block of wood into half...

"It works..." Maurice whispered, hardly believing his eyes...

"It..."

"IT WORKS!" Beau yelled happily while wrapping his father in a proud hug.

Quickly the two men cheered happily before rushing over to shut the machine off as one of the blocks missed Maurice's head by millimeters...

The next morning, Beau awoke only to hear loud crashes and thuds coming from the basement. Worried, he threw aside his sheets and ran to the basement not caring if he was still in his night clothes...

"Father? Father What in the world?" he exclaimed when he saw the basement in a state of pandemonium and also, his father's invention had been sloppily loaded onto a cart.

"Ahh good morning Beau!" Maurice waved from a corner. He was dressed in his finest breeches, a cloak and his favorite hat...

"Father? What are you doing? Are you going somewhere?" Beau asked slowly, picking random blocks off wood from the floor, worried that the old man might trip on them. Without warning, Maurice ran up to Beau and joyfully grabbed his hands,

"Hitch Philippe up! I'm going to the fair!" he announced proudly. Beau dropped the blocks of woods he was carrying.

"WHAT?!" he asked in disbelief.

"You heard me boy! I'm going to the fair!" Maurice repeated cheerfully... A little too cheerfully...

Beau couldn't believe his ears... Was his father being serious or fooling around... "But father don't you think that's a little well... brash? I mean..."

"Beau, I have a feeling that this chopper could be the start of a whole new life for us... Isn't that a good thing?"

Beau was lost for words. "Of course this is a good thing... Except... You should have told me earlier we were leaving to go to the fair... Otherwise I wouldn't have packed all my belongings to go to university..."

Maurice laughed loudly like the whole situation humored him.

"Only I'm going silly! I'm not going to stop you from going to university! I'd be crazy if I did that! I only asked you to hitch up Philippe... Ahh Beau always jumping to conclusions..." Maurice clicked his tongue disapprovingly...

"But... but...You never travelled alone before..."

"Pish posh, there is a first time for everything!"

"But..."

"Beau... You need to stay here... The fair is a day's travel... Do you want to go to university on time? Dou you even want to go at all..." Maurice asked, his tone serious.

Beau sighed. "Yes..."

"Good! So, don't worry about me... I'll come visit you after the fair alright?"

Unwillingly, after a lot more bickering and attempted reasoning, Beau caved and in a matter of hours, he found himself bidding his father farewell...

"Please be safe..." he prayed, watching Maurice's and Philippe' silhouettes

disappear into the dark mysterious woods...


	4. Chapter 4

**Some reviews? PLEASE?**

Maurice shuddered; the woods were starting to look ghoulish in the quickly diminishing sunlight. Aghast, he grabbed Philippe's reins and tried to direct the nervous stallion towards the safer looking option out of the two fog covered pathways. At first, the trudge was a silent one but without warning, Philippe suddenly reared up, smashing both the cart and Maurice against a large tree.

The impact of the crash suddenly sent thousands of black bats darting out the tree, screeching loudly, clawing and biting as they surrounded their intruders. This proved all too much for poor Philippe and the stallion bolted violently, crashing though both trees and nettles alike to escape the bats and whatever other horrors that lay waiting for them... However, his master didn't have the opportunity to brace himself as Philippe did and soon found himself struggling to maneuver the cart.

"Slow down boy! Slow down! Slow! Arrrghhh!" Maurice bellowed as one random kick from Philippe sent him catapulting off the cart and tumbling painfully down a steep path...

"Aghh..." the old man moaned, his back throbbing with unpleasant pain. Looking up, he searched the area for his horse... Nothing...

"Philippe!" he called out worriedly but to no avail... His mode of transportation was gone... He was alone, vulnerable and in great danger...Maurice swore heavily as he pulled himself up.

"This is bad..." he thought warily trying to make out what seemed to be multiple shadows darting in and out of the dark trees. Out of the blue, a wolf's howl echoed from among the fog followed by more. Chills ran down Maurice's spine. Knowing he'd be a sitting duck should he continue lingering in these mysterious woods, he grabbed his hat and ran for his life...

As he picked up his pace, there was a loud snarl, followed by more howls. Through his peripheral vision, Maurice could see the outline of what seemed like a large wolf closing in on him. Swallowing his fear, he willed his legs to run faster. Loud thuds sounded behind him followed by more vicious snarls.

"Faster!" Maurice thought, his muscles burning with pain, his senses flooded with panic as he clawed past branches and nettles. However, effort did not translate to success and Maurice's stamina soon crumbled, his legs giving away and he found himself painfully thrown down another steep path.

Barely conscious now, Maurice craned his neck only to gasp in amazement. Before him a large, gothic iron gate, behind it an immense castle, so high the top tower touched the bottom of the impending storm clouds. Looking back, he could clearly see the wolves now, six, seven of them, their fangs bared, yipping with excitement as they bounded down the path. Quickly, Maurice pulled himself up. Between being torn apart by ravenous wolves or be faced with new terrors within the castle? He choose the castle...

With a burst of strength, Maurice forcefully wrenched open the gates and threw himself in. With a hearty kick, he slammed the rusty gates shut and to his delight knocking over a couple of mangy wolves in the process. Dusting the dirt off his breeches, a trembling Maurice made his way to the large wooden doors... Shakily, he knocked loudly before gasping in shock as if by magic, the door swung open by itself...

"Hello? Is someone, is someone there?" Maurice called out uncertainly as he slowly made his way inside the castle, disturbed that there was not a soul in sight to greet him.

"Hello?" he tried again cautiously walking through the impressively long hallway... Something was amiss... How could the doors have opened by themselves? There had to be someone around unless...

"Oh Pish posh... There's no such thing as magic!" Maurice reprimanded himself before stopping short when he heard... voices?

Grabbing a nearby candlestick, he tried to locate the source of these noises to no avail.

"Hello? I didn't to intrude? I just got lost in the woods and I was just hoping to find some shelter for the night..." Maurice called out.

"Of course, monsieur, you are welcome here!" came a cheerful voice.

"Who said that?!" Maurice panicked, brandishing the candlestick wildly to defend himself from the mysterious voice but he couldn't see anything despite the light. It wasn't until he felt a light tapping on his shoulder than did Maurice turn to look straight at the candlestick.

He quivered... the candlestick was staring back...

"Hello!" it said brightly.

"Aghh!" Maurice yelped fearfully before instinctively releasing his grip on the candlestick causing it to land on the ground with a loud "CLINK!"

"Ow..." it said simply before quickly resuming a standing position like nothing had happened.

"How..."

"Well now you've done it, Lumiere! Splendid! Just peachy!" and from behind the candlestick waddled out a small clock, its face twisted into an annoyed frown. Maurice was lost for words...

"Incredible..." Maurice thought. How was this accomplished? How could inanimate objects talk or even more so, walk? It was not possibly! Giving into his inquisitive nature, Maurice eagerly picked the clock up, fascinated by how it kicked and bellowed in response.

"How does this work?" he muttered to himself shaking and prodding at the protesting clock before finally fingering with the clock's pendulum. But enough was enough, and the clock struck back obviously annoyed by Maurice's antics.

"Sir, close that at once! Do you mind?" it sneered angrily slamming its casing onto Maurice's finger.

Maurice starred at the fuming clock and laughing candlestick... They seemed so real... so alive!

"Maybe treating them like inventions isn't right..." he thought before kneeling down and placing the clock down next to the grinning candlestick.

"I beg your pardon... It's just that I've never seen... aah... Ahhh... AHH CHOO!'

The sneeze was so violent that it knocked the clock off his feet. Literally...

The candlestick or Lumiere as the clock had called him immediately shook his head.

"You are soaked to the bone monsieur! Come! Warm yourself by the fire!" he offered gently before guiding Maurice to a large, extravagantly decorated room while the clock protested loudly to little success.

Within minutes, Maurice found himself comfortably tucked up on an extremely comfortable armchair, wrapped in a thick snug blanket offered by a coat rack and lay his feet comfortably on a yipping but incredibly adorable footstool... He sighed contentedly before gasping in surprise as a tea tray pulled up beside him.

"How about a nice spot of tea, sir? It'll warm you up in no time." A smiling teapot offered generously so of course, Maurice accepted graciously. He lifted the teacup to his nose, savoring the sweet aroma before opening his mouth to take a sip.

"Hehe! His moustache tickles mama!"

Maurice nearly dropped the cup.

"Why hello there!" he chuckled when he noticed that the tea cup was not surprisingly alive as well...

"Hello! My name is Chip!" Chip declared gleefully.

Before Maurice could answer back the clock ran up to the center of the room and whistled loudly, stopping everyone in their tracks.

"Alright! This has gone far enough! If you know who finds out we will all be..."

"Oh lighten up Cogsworth! He only wants shelter from the woods! Have a heart!" Lumiere cajoled.

Cogsworth twitched.

"Alright fine! But PLEASE keep it down!"

"Keep it down? Mon ami, this is a joyous occasion! He is our first guest in years! We should be celebrating!"

"Ooooh... Sounds exciting... Am I invited?" came a sneer from the door.

Followed by a violent gush of wind that blew out every single source of candle light in the room, replacing it with cold sinister darkness. Everything single object froze.

"Uh oh..." Chip trembled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks jorholic73 and TheIronMask for reviewing :) You made my day and I do keep my promises. The more reviews the faster the updates so here it is the next chapter :) Other readers pls pls review?**

"Why is there a stranger here?" the voice asked silkily it's every word dripping with poison.,

"Ahh your grace, you see... This gentlemen was lost and it was cold and wet and..." the former enthusiastic candlestick was silenced by an inhuman roar causing beads of cold sweat to roll down Maurice's brow.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" the voice snarled, its former silkiness replaced by a thundering growl sending shivers of fear down Maurice's spine.

"Nothing... I..."

"LIAR!" the voice roared rattling every single windowpane in the room.

"Please... I assure you... I..." his sentence was broken off by a set of piercing green eyes.

"What are you staring at?" it whispered, its cold breath blowing onto Maurice's exposed neck causing the fine hairs there to stand on their tips.

"Are you staring at me..." the voice asked once again silky in tone...

"No...No I..."

"Oooh... So you have come to stare at the beast... STARE AT THE MONSTEROUS HIDEIOUS BEAST!" and before Maurice could scream he felt himself being lifted by the cape around his neck. Quickly he grabbed onto his captor's arms only to let go, as despite resembling human arms... They were covered with dark tannish brown fur and they ended in paws... Dangerous clawed paws.

"Well... I suppose I shouldn't disappoint..." the voice snapped and with the quick flash of lightning, Maurice felt himself age ten years... With the quick flash of lightning he was staring at the work of the devil himself...

"My God..." he quivered as he brought his hands up to his face, to shield himself from the monstrosity before him.

"God won't do you any good... Trust me... I know..." and for a split second... Maurice swore he saw a single tear fall from those piercing green eyes. But that moment of uncertainty was broken by a loud snarl and Maurice released a blood-curdling scream as he felt himself being hauled violently out the room and into the unknowns of this strange castle...

When the beast returned from the dungeon, she entered a living room full of icy cold stares. Taking a look at all her servants she raised an eyebrow.

"You don't have to pretend I'm stupid... Out with it..." the beast ordered formally, her arms akimbo.

"Your grace... Was that really necessary?" Lumiere asked exasperatedly.

"It was if I wanted it to be..." the beast smiled coldly.

"But... He only wanted shelter from the storm! He didn't do anything wrong! " Chip argued bravely. The beast rose to full height and stared malevolently at the trembling teacup that quickly ducked behind his trembling mother for protection.

"Well then it was just unfortunate that he had to run into me wasn't it Chip..." she said silkily a sign that signaled the argument was closed.

Slowly the servants filed out one by one while the beast watched, a triumphed gleam in her eyes. Satisfied, she turned to return to the West Wing only to stop dead when four little words shook her to the core.

"Just like her parents..."

For a moment, the beast nearly whipped around to tear off the arms of whomever who dared to say such a thing... But she refrained herself... If she did do such a thing... She'd really be no better than her parents... Growling, she grabbed her cloak and stormed off and the castle was once again effulged by ghostly silence...

"Knock knock!"

Beau looked up sharply from his book, he didn't enjoy being interrupted from his precious reading time. Grumbling, he made his way to the door and opened it.

"Guinevere... What a pleasant surprise..." he smiled, grimacing ever so slightly at Guinevere's seductive pose and her new... Very very low cut dress...

"Your new dress... It's very... revealing" Beau noted, trying to keep his eyes off her impressive chest. Guinevere laughed.

"Oh Beau... You flatter me... " the beauty cooed in her most enticing voice. Beau winced as she promptly entered and made herself at home... Without invitation of course...

"So Guinevere... How may I be of service to you?" Beau asked politely.

Guinevere batted her eyelashes seductively.

"You see Beau... You do know its customary for every young woman in the village to marry by the age of twenty one don't you?"

"Yes of course I do..." Beau nodded not liking where their conversation was heading.

"Well you see... I'll be of age in at least in a few months... And I cannot marry without a groom..."

"I know many young men in the village willing to sweep you of your feet... The baker's son perhaps?" Beau rebutted uneasily, knowing EXACTLY where this raven head was headed.

Guinevere laughed.

"Oh Quincy? He's a darling... But he's not for me... I prefer..."

Without warning, she threw herself onto a mortified Beau.

"I want you to be my groom Beau!" she insisted aggressively, a maniac-like gleam in her icy blue eyes. Beau winced, not wanting to believe this was actually happening...

"Me?!"

"Yes you!"

" Oh but Guinevere... I... I...I don't deserve you... how about...how about..." Beau stuttered as he tried to bring up her many male admirers... He couldn't... As hard as he tried, he couldn't... the list just went on...

"Who?! Avery? Louie? Rupert? Bayard? THEY'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME! I WANT YOU BEAU... JUST YOU!" she declared, her long nails digging painfully into Beau's shoulder.

Beau gulped. Apparently Guinevere was just too thick headed to deduce what he was getting too... Either that or she just chose to stubbornly ignore it completely... Beau sighed... This was going to hurt him more than it was going to hurt her...

Gently, Beau pulled her hands off his throbbing shoulders.

"You flatter me Guinevere... But I'm sorry ... You just don't... You're not... I just don't deserve you..." he said firmly before bracing himself as Guinevere's face transformed from one of confusion, to realization and of course... Rage.

"What?" she sneered...

Beau grimaced but still took a firm stance.

"I'm sorry..."

"You're... You're... YOU'RE REJECTING ME?!" Guinevere screeched, her eyes blazing with cold fury.

"I..."

Before he could continue, a loud slap sent his mind into momentary shock. Beau stepped back, the sting of the slap still fresh in his mind.

"Guinevere..."

There was no reply except for a loud wail followed by the brutal slamming s of the house's front doors. Beau heaved a sigh of relief before slumping down against the wall...

"Women..." he grunted.


	6. Chapter 6

**PLS REVIEW... Pls? And if you have any questions, PM me or leave it in the review box and I will get back you...**

It wasn't even half an hour before someone started knocking on Beau's doors again. Beau rubbed his temples before hesitantly making his way to the door praying it wasn't Guinevere or one of her admirers waiting to extract their revenge on him. With a deep sigh, he opened the door.

"Oh boy..." Beau thought.

"Beau..."

"Hello Gaston..."

The bigger man gestured for Beau to follow him.

" We need to talk...'

The two men travelled in silence until they arrived at a large meadow. Beau cracked his knuckles nervously... What was his friend up to?

"Beau... I want to talk to you about Guinevere..." Gaston glared, his voice stern.

Beau grimaced...

"Um... Look... If this is about my rejection to her... I didn't mean to uh... It... It was..."

"IT WAS BRILLINAT!"

Beau raised an eyebrow unsure if Gaston was joking.

" Pardon?"

"It was brilliant! Finally! Someone to put that brat in her place! Good job old friend!" Gaston bellowed shaking Beau's hand.

"So you aren't here to kill me for what I did to your sister?" Beau asked nervously.

"Kill you? I should be congratulating you! You have no idea how my sister is... Hasn't aged a day since five... My God... She can be so... so trying! Whining and crying... She needs a good spanking and boy did you give her one!"

"More of the other way around..." Beau muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing... But answer me this... You're her brother... Why leave the spanking to your best friend?"

Gaston rolled his eyes.

"Please, she never listens to me... Besides... I have more important things to do than worry about Guinevere's petty problems..." Gaston scoffed before sitting down on the soft grass.

Beau snorted as he took a seat next to Gaston.

"You have more important things? I'm leaving tonight for university..." Beau grumbled.

"What are you complaining about? University! It'd be a new experience! You'll get to learn things, be educated, and see the world! You won't be just another simple village boy like me..." Gaston mumbled, a hint of bitterness in his voice

"Hey I was joking! But what do you have to complain about? You're the new village hunter! Isn't it all you've ever wanted?"

"Yes... Before I found out the amount of responsibility I had to shoulder..." Gaston spat before throwing a handful of grass into the air watching how they drifted off into the wind...

Gaston sighed.

"I don't know what to do Beau... This village not only demands that I put food on the table in tavern but also... They demand that I protect their homes, their wives, their children... What if I can't do it Beau? What if I'm not as good as people think and I fail them? People are depending on me..."

Beau was lost for words... He knew Gaston took his work seriously... He didn't know Gaston took his work that seriously...

"You worry to much..." Beau smirked.

"Beau I'm being serious ... What if something attacks the village and I can't protect it?"

"Gaston, you're the best hunter the village has ever produced, even your father said so... So don't worry..." Beau comforted.

It was a few minutes before Gaston nodded.

"I guess you're right..."

Beau chuckled.

"You guess?" he asked sarcastically, his eyebrows arched.

Gaston rolled his eyes.

"I know you're right... Happy?"

"Delighted..." Beau nodded. "Come on its getting late and I still have things to do..."

Grinning, Gaston grabbed his riffle only to drop it in shock as a loud horse neigh pierced the air.

"Philippe!" Beau cried as the brown stallion burst out the trees, cart and all, snorting loudly as he galloped heavily towards them. It took both men a good deal of patience and caution before poor Philippe stopped thrashing and finally reached a semblance of calm.

"What's Philippe doing here?" Gaston grunted, yanking the reins to prevent Philippe from kicking him, again...

"I don't know... My father was riding him to the fair... and... oh no"

Gaston watched in bewilderment as Beau singlehandedly separated the heavy looking cart from the horse before clambering onto it.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find my father!"

"Find your father?"

"He's in trouble... Something must have happened on the way to the fair!"

"Beau... Don't be rash... Philippe could have just gotten loose and..."

"Philippe wouldn't just abandon father unless something went wrong! I'm going to go look for him!" and with that Beau turned and rode deep into the woods leaving Gaston alone with the cart.

Gaston sighed before grabbing the handles of the cart. "Terrific..." he grumbled before pulling the cart all the way back to the Chevalier household.

Beau dreaded every mile that passed. In all honesty... HOW COULD HAVE HIS FATHER GOTTEN THIS LOST?! Did Maurice turn a blind eye to every single mile sign he passed? Well he must have for Beau was at wit's end trying to figure how his father got this off track. Even with someone as careless as Maurice... It just wasn't possible... Beau groaned.

"What was I thinking? Letting him travel alone... Father please be alright... please..." Beau prayed as he urged Philippe to gallop faster.

It was approaching nightfall before Philippe suddenly stopped. By now, both man and horse were shivering from the cold of the rain, trembling in fear as the rising moon casted a sickly yellowish glow over the sinister forest...

"Where did you take him Philippe? What is this place?" Beau trembled as he looked at the foreboding iron gate and behind it, an enormous castle surrounded by thunderclouds...

Hesitantly, Beau dismounted Philippe and led the nervous horse through the gates. His eyes went wide. There among the dead leaves was, unmistakably his father's hat...

"Father..."

Meanwhile in the kitchens, Lumiere and Cogsworth were in the middle of a heated argument.

"Couldn't keep quiet could we? Just had to invite him to stay didn't we?"

"Serve him tea, sit in the mistress's chair, pet the pooch!" Cogsworth mocked the fuming candlestick. Lumiere scowled, tempted to set the pompous clock on fire.

"I was trying to be hospitable!" he said defensively. Cogsworth laughed.

"Hospitable? Hospitable? Thanks to YOUR hospitability, that poor man is dying of cold in the DUNGEONS you... you irresponsible, devil-may-care, waxy-eared, slack-jawed..."

Lumiere lost it. Angrily, he raised his wicks to...

"Father?"

The two objects turned around in surprise, their bickering quickly forgotten as they saw Beau quickly walked passed them. Lumiere couldn't believe his eyes... or his luck...

"It's... It's a young man..." he said excitedly grabbing Cogsworth by the shoulders.

Cogsworth rolled his eyes before quickly blowing out the flames on Lumiere's wicks before they set him on fire.

"I know it's a young man... What about him?" he retorted skeptically.

"Don't you see?! He's the one we've been waiting for! The one to break the spell!" and with that, the candlestick leaped off the table and ran after Beau.

Cogsworth blinked before realization dawned onto him.

"Wait for me!" he cried before running after Lumiere.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you DarkBalls for following, TheIronMask and jorholic73 for reviewing. I am a person of my word... so here is the next chapter and it features... the Beast... Yay! So... enjoy and REVIEW...**

Up in the West Wing, the beast did all she could to distract herself from the guilty voices that rang in her head.

"He shouldn't have come here... He trespassed..." she growled to herself before returning to her book. It worked for about ten seconds... Until the words "Just like her parents..." sounded in her head. The beast growled and threw her book aside. How dare they say that? The nerve! The beast crossed her arms. She hated the old man... Hated him... The fact that he had won over all her servants within mere minutes while she couldn't even get them to engage her in conversation for years annoyed her to no end... Sure they served her like they were supposed to but it was always done in a begrudged manner... But yet with the old man, they seemed genuinely overjoyed to serve him, heck they even offered to throw him a party... Did they really think she wouldn't notice the indifference towards her? When was the last time any of them bothered to throw her a party? All the birthdays she had spent alone...

The beast snarled.

"WHAT DOES HE HAVE THAT I DON'T?" she growled smashing her hand into the nearby wall.

"Nnnn..." she whimpered looking at her trapped hand, immediately ashamed of what she just did... She knew what this man had... This three and half feet tall, pudgy pathetic old man had more entitlement than she could wish to have... He could walk, interact, explore, and face the whole planet while she had to remain a prisoner in her own house... Locked up, hidden away... A prisoner in her own castle...

Sighing, the beast pulled her hand out of the wall before walking over to the stone table that housed the rose and her mirror.

"_ If you learn to love someone and earn his love back in return by the time the last petal falls..." _shewhispered softly to herself while gently stroking the glass casing of the rose. For a very short, almost brief moment, the thought of making the old man fall in love with her crossed the beast's mind. However, she dismissed it just as quickly as it had appeared almost laughing at her own desperation.

"Its not possible... He's terrified of you... He'll sooner shoot himself than look at you... Besides if it does work... Whom are you fooling, it will never work..." a nasty voice spat in her head.

The beast ran her hand through her tangled mane. Hesitantly, she reached for the mirror.

"Show me the old man..."

The mirror clouded over, then instantly cleared to show Maurice shivering and trembling uncontrollably in his cell. The beast grimaced as he released a few violent sneezes... He looked like... He looked like the Enchantress when she appeared as a crone ten years ago... The beast's gaze softened... Placing down the mirror, she opened the door to her room and peered out. Not a soul in sight... Quietly, she made her way to the dungeon...

"I'm going to regret this..." she growled reaching for the key only to freeze when an unfamiliar voice echoed around the dungeon...

"Father?"

Beau's brow furrowed with worry... Again there was that mysterious creak and he was getting very tired of this little cat and mouse game. Every time he entered a new hallway, a door would open all by itself to lead him into another hallway or room. Was his invisible host playing mind games with him because it was getting increasingly annoying... With a frustrated glare, Beau trudged past the open door, wanting to catch his host and give him a piece of his mind. To his surprise, Beau found himself alone and in a dungeon...

Beau starred at his surroundings in disbelief...

The dungeon itself was a maze of passageways and gargoyles. Simply put, it was confusing. It would probably take days to find his way around, much less find his father in this labyrinth...

"Father! Father!" Beau called grabbing a torch and hesitantly stepping into the closest passageway. There was a moan, followed by a few rib-shattering coughs. Beau followed the sound, running up a flight of stairs into the castle's tower only to stop dead when he saw his father locked in a dingy cell with nothing but some hay and a moldy blanket for warmth.

"Father!" Beau heaved a sigh of relief as he kneelt to embrace Maurice's outstretched arm.

"Beau is that you?" Maurice grunted, his voice cracked.

"Yes father... Good God... Your hands are like ice..." Beau cried noticing Maurice's fingertips were starting to turn blue...

"Beau I want you to get out of here..."

"What monster did this to you?"

"Beau..."

"Don't worry there must be a way..."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" and Beau felt himself being pushed aside, his torch extinguished by whatever that had attacked him. He quickly pulled himself up, his eyes darted around, desperately trying to adjust to the darkness, barely able to make out silhouettes.

"Who's there?!" Beau demanded loudly, his shout echoing the walls of the dungeon.

"The master of this castle..." came a growl far louder and fiercer than Beau's own, causing him to flinch.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the voice demanded.

"I'm... I'm here for my father... Please I beg of you... Release him! " Beau said slowly trying to steady his voice realizing that to anger his opponent would probably be met with fatal consequences.

"Then he shouldn't have trespassed here..." the voice retorted, suddenly becoming silky in tone, almost like his opponent was taunting his plight.

Beau blinked, surprised by the change of tone but pulled himself together. "Please... he's sick.. Please I'll do anything... I'll..."

"Beau... I forbid you to"

"Anything?" the voice cut in, a hint of eagerness present while Maurice released a low moan.

Beau cursed himself realizing the predicament he just got himself into...

"Yes anything..." he chocked getting more worried about his father with every passing second. For a moment there was silence, followed by whispers, if Beau hadn't know any better, he could have sworn that his father' captor was talking to someone...

Finally the blood thick tension was broken by a growl...

"Very well... I will release your father on one condition..."

Beau grimaced. "

What condition?" he asked dreading his fate, cursing Lady Luck for his unfortunate situation.

"You will take your father's place... And you will stay in this castle for as long as I command you too...agreed?"

Those words hit Beau like a thunderbolt, to stay in this castle... All his hopes... all his dreams...

"BEAU NO!" Maurice screamed banging weakly on the door that separated him and his son.

Beau looked away. For once, the bright young man had no idea what to do... Finally to know exactly what he was getting himself into... He made a request.

"Come into the light..." he demanded


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you WriteToEscapeReality1309 for following,WondaGal for favouriting and TheIronMask for reviewing :) Again this took a bit longer because it took some time to picture how the beast would look in my head... So describing her was not an easy task... Pls, leave some reviews because I did spend a lot of time on this chapter...**

"Why not?" Beau asked.

" I do not want to..." the voice replied softly.

"How do you expect me to keep my end of the bargain when you won't even show me your face?" Beau challenged.

There was a growl and Beau wondered if he had stepped out of line... He closed his eyes expecting the figure to strike him down on the spot... But there was only a deep sigh...

Finally, after minutes of hostile silence...the sinister figure slowly placed one foot before the other. Beau's eyes grew wide when he realized what he was looking at wasn't even relatively human. The feet belonged to those of a wild animal, clawed and covered with fur, bent at the heel... A long wolf tail hung between those legs, sweeping lazily as the figure stepped further into the light revealing, a muscular but lean and supple body much like that of a panther... A panther dressed in a loose white shirt with a wine red cape barely hiding its clawed five fingered paws. Finally, with a jerk, the large bright green human eyes gleaming, the creature pulled off its hood to reveal a large jackal like face completed with a snout and sharp fangs, a waist long mane of tangled dark hair that fell over its face and shoulders. Its head was also adorned with a pair of black ram horns that lay on top of its floppy pointed ears.

Beau couldn't believe his eyes... Not only was his father's captor a... beastly figure... She was also... Female... Despite being dressed in a men's shirt and breeches far to big for her... The beast's feminine curves clearly gave away her gender...

"Well..." she asked, obviously uncomfortable with Beau staring at her.

Beau took a deep breath... Probably his last... and nodded.

"You have my word..." he said softly.

"Beau no!" but Maurice's scream was cut off once again when the Beast, literally tore open the door and dragged Maurice out the cell, down the stairs and into the courtyard, ignoring every single one of Beau's protests.

"Please I beg of you... Have mercy on him... Let him go..."

"He's no longer you're concern..." the Beast said silkily before hastily shoving him into one of the carriages.

"Take him to the village..." was the last thing Maurice heard before the sounds of gears grinding droned out his screams and pleas of mercy. As he clawed at the window, he could see the castle getting further and further away...

The beast clambered up the stairs two at a time, barely able to contain her excitement... This could be it... This could be her chance... This young man could just be the key to her...

"Mistress..."

"WHAT?!" she growled savagely but instantly regretted it. Looking at the terrified candlestick she cursed herself internally. He was only trying to help... so why did she... why was she being so beastly to him... In fact, why was she being so beastly to everyone...

"What Lumiere?" she repeated, more gently this time.

"Uh, I was thinking, since the young man is going to be staying with us for quite some time... Maybe you would want to give him a more comfortable room..."

The beast growled and rolled her eyes... Did the candlestick think her beastly features equated to stupidity? Did he really think she would keep this poor young man in the cold tower? Shaking her head at him, she continued up the stairs.

Beau watched sadly as the carriage pulled itself away from the castle. Curling his fists angrily, he lay down on the straw and shut his eyes trying to get comfortable.

"Does being your prisoner also mean you get to gloat at my suffering?" he asked sarcastically hearing the beast's footsteps enter the tower.

"Watch your tongue, if you want to keep it..." she answered in that infuriating silky voice.

Beau turned to the beast and glared daggers at her. "You didn't have to be so violent... If you have my word, you have my word...

"I couldn't be sure..."

"You could have gave me some time to say goodbye... I'll never see him again..."

The beast turned away, running her hand through her hair feeling a twinge of guilt... He was right... she had been unnecessarily violent... Maybe she should apologize... But what good would it do? She couldn't call the carriage back; the damage had been done... Unsure how to act, the beast sighed

"I'll show you to your room..." she said coldly.

"If this was enough for my father..."

"Either follow me down, or die of hypothermia up here. Those are your choices..." the beast snarled.

Bea ignored her, but he couldn't ignore the fact his body was starting to shiver from the night's cold...Sighing, he pushed himself up slowly and followed the beast down the dungeon steps.

The walk was a silent one, both man and beast engaging in the fine art of ignoring each other. Beau's inquisitive mind couldn't stop him from having a good luck at the castle though... It was grotesque, the architecture, the statues, and the paintings... All of them seemed to have leaped off the pages of a horror novel or the works of Edgar Allen Poe himself.

While Beau was staring at the castle, the Beast was staring at Beau... Despite the sullen look on his face she couldn't help but think he was unbelievably...good looking... He was tall, a tiny bit taller than beast herself, a nice figure, muscular but still slim, with thick wavy brown hair that was tied into a loose ponytail. Sharp features with some roundness, all in the right places...that housed his large thoughtful dark brown eyes concentrated so fiercely on what he was thinking... he fascinated the beast... Suddenly, Beau's eyes snapped back into place, catching the beast staring at him.

Quickly the beast turned away, her cheeks burning, her ears pressed against her head embarrassed. Lumiere, noticing this immediately tried to salvage the situation.

"Say something to him..." Lumiere urged encouragingly.

"Uh... I hope you like it here..." the beast tried only to get a cold eye from Beau. The candlestick waved his "hands", urging her to continue.

"The castle is your home now, so you can go anywhere you want... anywhere except the west wing..." the beast tried again hoping that the prospect of having almost an entire castle to explore would cheer Beau up. There was still no reply from Beau. Dejected, the beast continued walking in silence ignoring whatever signals Lumiere was giving her.

Finally, all three of them arrived in front of a well-furnished door. Systematically, the beast quickly unlocked the door for Beau who simply nodded in thanks.

"If you need anything... My servants will attend to you..." the beast offered hoping to get a word out of the sullen Beau. Lumiere noticing the hostile situation racked his brains to help his mistress.

"Dinner! Invite him to dinner!" He whispered.

"Dinner is at seven in the main dining hall..."

"I'm not hungry!" Beau snapped, his back to the beast.

Unable to tolerate Beau's stiff shoulder any longer, the Beast snarled and slammed the door shut.

"THAT WAS NOT A REQUEST! IT WAS AN ORDER!" she roared before storming off to her own quarters.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello my lovelies... Thank you for all the great reviews (jorholic73, TheIronMask, a guest and Iamthebookthief) your comments make my life so much happier, also thank you Shopaholic-Pixxie for following, I appreciate it. Due to all the reviews I got, I wanted to post this yesterday but... Lets just say a lot of planning was needed for this chapter... A LOT OF PLANNING... I NEVER SPENT SO MUCH TIME WRITING... EVER... (See below for more info) Oh yes, I advise you play the song Gaston during this chapter just in case...**

Beau glared at the door for a full minute before throwing himself onto his bed in frustration. At first, he felt the urge to burst out of his room and make a quick escape out of the castle. However, after much consideration, his confidence deflated and he simmered down. Making a run for it would have been fairly risky and not to mention stupid... The unfamiliar castle was a maze of corridors and stairways. Beau knew he'd be caught in a matter of minutes and he hated to think what the beast would try to do to him if she did indeed catch him.

Beau shuddered at the memory of the beast. She was nothing like he had ever seen before... Terrifying with her gleaming fangs and those horrible sharp claws... and to think he had to share dinner with her...

"Ughh..." Beau groaned before sadly peering out of the window, out into the gloom. It had begun to snow, the first really heavy snow of the winter...

Back in the tavern, Guinevere sat at her usual seat, or more accurately throne... Bawling her eyes out while the men in tavern, to their immense pleasure, did all in their power to please her. They swooned at her every command, waited on her hand and foot, dying for her to call their names and let them sweep her off her feet. Unfortunately for them, Guinevere was too caught up over Beau's refusal of her to care...

"OH... I can't bear it! I've been dismissed, rejected, PUBLICLY HUMILIATED! I don't know you all lovelies can bear to look at me..."Guinevere wailed sobbing dramatically, her perfectly shaped arm laid over her face.

Immediately, the young man next to her, Marc or Marcus, Guinevere couldn't recall puffed out his chest aggressively.

"That criminal will pay for what he did to you my turtle dove... LETS GO BRING BEAU'S HEAD BACK ON A PIKE!" he yelled, his fist thrust confidently into the air. There were loud cheers of agreement and just like that, other young men sprung out of their seats and made a beeline for the door, presumably to commit bloody murder for their beloved Guinevere.

"Boys, boys, boys..." Guinevere called out fondly and like a herd of naïve sheep, the young men immediately returned to their seats, overjoyed that their goddess had acknowledged them...

"Marcus... Darling... You're such a sweetie..." Guinevere cooed, her face just mere centimeters from the flabbergasted admirer...

"Its Marc actually..." he chocked, a nervous smile plastered on his face.

"Mmm..." she grunted before pushing him away. She appreciated the gesture but she didn't want Beau dead... In fact, this whole affair wasn't about Beau, it was about her and Guinevere's thirst for admiration was a bottomless pit.

With a grand sweep of her gown, the raven head stood up and faced everyone with a pained face.

"I know you all are trying to make me feel better..." she pouted at the swooning men, "but what's the point? We all know what Beau did... But can we blame him? He's simply stating the truth. I am ugly... I am hideous... That's why he didn't want me..." Guinevere lied through her teeth. There were gasps of outright horror, not just from her admirers but the entire tavern.

A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of Guinevere's blood red lips...

"Oh these stupid fools..." she thought spitefully. "Like I could ever be ugly or hideous..."

She continued eagerly, her hands clasped together, her eyes to the sky, her movements emphasized by great sweeping motions as if reciting some tragic monologue from Sophocles himself.

"Please, I beg of you... Leave me be... for I am hurt... Spare me your pity for I just can't bring myself to look at any of you. It's more than I can bear! For I am... I am..." her voice cracked, wrenching the hearts of her loyal followers.

"I AM A DISGRACE..." she announced finally before collapsing all to gracefully into her throne.

There were immediate shouts of protest and a whole battalion of men flung themselves at her feet.

"YOU? NEVER!" they cried in unison.

A supposed sob escaped from Guinevere, and she turned around, unwilling to face them. The men gathered together, doing all in their power to perk up their precious angel.

"Guinevere dear, please don't look so glum."

"Or look so down in the dumps!"

Guinevere wailed.

"Every guy here'd love to be with you hon, even when taking your lumps!

Guinevere snorted, well that was crude...

"There's no girl in town as admired as you!"

"You're so perfect in every way!"

"Everyone's awed and inspired by you! And it's not very hard to see why..."

Guinevere turned around, interested to see what compliments the men had for her this time...

"No one can sing just like her!"

"Dances like Guinevere!"

"No one's hips can ever compare to Guinevere's!"

"For there's no gal in town half as pretty! Perfect, a pure paragon!"

"You can ask any Tom, Dick or Stanley... And they'll tell you which girl is the best of them all!"

"No one's a win like Guinevere!"

"Can ever imprint like Guinevere!"

"No one has a chin just like Guinevere's!

Guinevere smiled. Seeing no harm in including herself, she joined in

"As a specimen yes, I'm so captivating!"

"My, such a gem, Guinevere!"

Pretty soon, everyone was raising his or her flasks in Guinevere's honor.

"Give five hurrahs! Give twelve hip-hips!"

"Guinevere's the best and the rest are all drips!"

"No one is as light as our dear!"

"Can make our frowns disappear!"

"In a pageant here, no one will dare to top Guinevere!"

"For there is no one as curvy and saucy..."

Guinevere smirked. "As you see I've got sass left to spare..."

"Not a bit of her is scraggly or lanky!"

Guinevere shrugged. "That's right! And don't you forget about my lovely long hair!"

The whole tavern was at jubilation at this point with Guinevere arrogantly basking in all her praises.

"No one bids just like her!"

"Matches wit against her!"

"In any match, no one can even compete with Guinevere!"

Guinevere laughed. "I'm especially good at expectorating!"

"My, what a gal, Guinevere..."

Feeling the need to boast, Guinevere gestured at her lovely complexion.

"When I was a lass I bathed four times in milk, to prevent any blemish or spots!"

There were gasps of amazement.

"And now that I'm grown I bathe five times in milk! So now my skin is just simply off the charts!"

"No one executes just like her!"

"End our disputes Guinevere!"

"We're all in a line for your hand Guinevere!"

Guinevere choose to ignore the last comment. She had no intention of marrying ANY of these dimwitted country bumpkins and instead sat at her thrown.

"I must have antlers for interior decorating!"

"MY WHAT A GAL... GUINEVERE!"

**Yeah... The name Guinevere wasn't exactly easy to put in a song due to it having 3 syllables instead of 2 like Gaston... I had a lot of drafts for this chapter because I really liked the song in the movie so I wanted mine to do it justice. Also, I think our lovely villain needs a chapter for herself because honestly she's great fun to write... Loved the song, Hate the song. Love the new villain? Hate her? Let me know because I'm dying to know you're thoughts so pls review? PLS? PLS? PLS? :) Your comments let me know if my effort was worth it :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm sorry this took so long but school is a nightmare... Thank you (jorholic73,TheIronMask and Iamthebookthief) for reviewing. Others... PLS REVIEW and enjoy.**

The celebration over Guinevere was cut short when Maurice boldly burst into the tavern unexpectedly...

Without waiting to be seated he ran in, throwing his arms into the sky, shouting his lungs off.

"IT'S GOT HIM! IT'S GOT HIM LOCKED UP IN A DUNGEON! WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM NOW! NOW!" he practically screamed into the face of a very confused Marc who instinctively shoved the ashen faced Maurice away. Undaunted, Maurice moved on to grab poor Quincy by the collar, shaking him violently with strength beyond his years. Guinevere laughed, although she disliked the old lunatic she was still entertained and not to mention highly amused by his antics.

"Whoa old man... Who's got who locked up in a dungeon?" she asked snidely.

"A BEAST! A TERRIBLE MONSTEROUS BEAST!" Maurice shrieked not caring how ridiculous the whole situation sounded.

There was unanimous silence in the tavern followed by loud shrieks of uncontrollable laughter. Maurice lowered his arms confused. With an approving nod from their beloved Guinevere, the men closed in on poor Maurice.

"Was it a big beast?" Quincy demanded.

"HUGE!" Maurice emphasized with his arms.

"With a long ugly snout?" Bayard sneered.

"Hideously ugly!" Maurice nodded at the fearful memory of the beast's blood red mouth.

"Sharp cruel fangs?" Guinevere asked innocently wanting to join the fun.

"YES! YES! YES!" Maurice shouted in exasperation wondering if these people were just plain stupid... How could they stand here and laugh while Beau's very life was in danger...

Turning to Guinevere, he grabbed her arms desperately. She knew Beau personally since childhood, if there was anyone who could convince these men to help him... It was Guinevere.

"Guinevere you have to help me! Please! Please!" Maurice begged hysterically at the stony faced woman.

Guinevere's face twitched in disgust... She didn't appreciate anyone touching her... Especially crazy old men... Getting grimy sweat and tears all over her... Fun was over... This was getting disgusting...

Guinevere bent over and gave Maurice her sweetest smile.

"Sure Maurice we will help you OUT..." she cooed while her eyes sent flashing signals to her loyal followers. The men in the tavern gave each other toothy grins before hauling an unsuspecting Maurice, who was to busy thanking Guinevere to notice them... And with another cruel laugh they threw him forcefully out into the cold wet snow...

Maurice grunted heavily as he collided painfully into the ground. Why were they doing this? Why were they being so cruel... Wait, it didn't matter, what mattered most right now was that Beau's life was in jeopardy... Ignoring his throbbing back, the old man brushed the snow off himself before quickly attempting to enter the tavern once again only to have the heavy wooden doors slam loudly in his face. Aghast, he slammed his fists as hard as he could into the door. Nearly crying out as it refused to even budge.

"PLEASE! PLEASE!" he screamed but his pleas fell on deaf ears and Maurice sank to his knees.

"Will no one help me?" he wailed into the darkness.

Back in the tavern, Guinevere smiled contentedly as Maurice's hammering proceeded to get louder and louder. It gave her some form of content and satisfaction knowing the old man was out there freezing to death... Her smile widened, it was just a wonderful feeling knowing she was inflicting pain on the very man who hurt her... Well not exactly but Beau had humiliated her, and since he wasn't here, she'd found it just as rewarding inflicting her revenge on his father... for now anyway...

Guinevere pouted. Just the thought of Beau made her want to slap him again... How could a man be so blind towards a woman's affection? Her affection. Her eyes scanned around the tavern. Even these dimwitted country airheads could tell when she wanted something. Why couldn't Beau? It just wasn't human. Maybe it was because he spent too much time around his crackpot father... Honestly, Guinevere had never met anyone who would devote as much time to their parents as Beau did to his father... Maybe all their quality time together drove Beau as mad as Maurice...

"Crazy old Maurice..." Guinevere heard Bayard mutter on his way back to his table... She stiffened; a little idea just short of brilliant crossed her cunning mind.

"Crazy old Maurice..." she whispered.

"Yes... Crazy old Maurice..." she repeated liking the sound of that more and more...

It felt like decades later before the silence of the castle was interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. Beau glanced up from the desk. Over the past few hours, he had found a piece of parchment and quill to keep himself amused... However, doodling could only keep one entertained for so long and he was longing for something more exciting to happen. Keeping his cool Beau approached the door.

"Who is it?" he asked sternly.

"Mrs. Potts dear..." came a motherly voice, a jarring change from the beast's loud roars and silky threats.

Beau blinked; honestly he was expecting the beast and not this Mrs. Potts person... Whoever she was...

Cautiously, Beau opened the door only to leap back in surprise as teapot A TEAPOT made of fine China came hopping in cheerfully followed, by all things, a teacup...

"Hi!" the teacup said brightly.

"How...How... This... Its not possible Ooof..." Beau grunted as he knocked into something hard, quickly, he spun around only to gasp in surprise as the WARDROBE smiled at him.

"Careful!" she laughed helping him back onto his feet with her drawers.

Beau looked at the enchanted objects before him in sheer amazement before slowly running his hands through his hair.

"This is impossible..." he blurted out, more to himself than anyone else.

The wardrobe let out a forced laugh before carelessly lowering herself onto the bed nearly sending Beau flying off in the process due to her immense weight.

"I know it's impossible... But here we are!" she chuckled happily. Beau smiled back uneasily...

The wardrobe couldn't help but blush at this handsome young man's dashing smile. She continued to stare at him before a cough from Mrs. Potts snapped her back into reality.

"OH where are my manners, I'm Madame de la Grande Bouche, the teapot is Mrs. Potts and that's her son Chip."

"HI!" the cup named Chip said again.

"Hi..." Beau replied shakily... still unsure if he was caught up in some bizarre hallucination... or if this was all really happening...

"We thought you'd like a spot of tea." Mrs. Potts offered generously. Beau thought carefully for a moment, his initial agenda was to refuse anything this castle had to offer, a personal sign of defiance towards the beast. However, Mrs. Potts seemed so genuine and motherly that he felt quite rude rejecting her hospitality.

After some internal debate, Beau nodded.

"I would love some tea... Thank you very much" he said finally.

He wrinkled his brow at how he was supposed to drink out of something alive... It just felt... A tad bit violating... However, Chip didn't seem to mind at all and he hopped eagerly to an intrigued Beau.

Hesitantly, Beau picked the tiny tea cup and took a sip of the gorgeous smelling tea. He gasped, it was nothing like he tasted before, unlike the smooth malty tea he drank and was accustomed to back in the village, this tea was entirely different, clear, herbal but with a thick roasted aroma and had a bittersweet twang to it... It was better than any tea he tasted...

"That's wonderful... Thank you very much." Beau said politely placing Chip back with his mother.

"No need to thank me my dear..." Mrs. Potts blushed puzzling Beau for a moment because he was pretty sure China had no pigment and thus couldn't blush...

"Then again, China can't move or talk either..." he reasoned with himself.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for the reviews (jorholic73, TheIronMask, Alyssa and civilwarrose) Your reviews mean the world to me. Others please review, I love comments good or bad and if they are bad, I will work on it... So... REVIEW and of course enjoy...**

"Hey mister?" Beau snapped out his pondering to see Chip jumping up and down excitedly trying to get his attention.

"Yes?"

"You 're really brave!" the teacup said shyly.

Bea blinked, stunned momentarily. "Brave?" no one had ever called him brave before... In fact it was always quite the opposite... "Dreamer, odd ball and coward..." Those were the names he was familiar with...

"Thank you... But you're wrong...I'm not brave..." he said gently to the smiling tea cup.

"Yes you are!" Chip argued, confused by the young man's modesty, something that was lacking in the castle...

"I've never seen anyone talk to the Mistress like that! I mean, aren't you scared by her..."

"CHIP! That's enough..." Mrs. Potts said sternly before giving Beau an uneasy smile.

"Children... However, that was a very brave thing you did my dear..."

"We all think so..." Madame de la Grande Bouche chirped, nodding in agreement.

Beau sighed, though he appreciated their words of comfort, they had also unintentionally brought up the very thing he had tried to forget over the past hour...

"Thank you... But...But its nothing I should be proud of..." Beau said grimly, his mind suddenly recalling that it was around now that he should have been arriving at the university gates... It was then that the gravity of his unfortunate situation struck him. Just the thought of how that opportunity had been viciously taken away from him almost sent him in tears of anger... Almost... All those years of studying... preparation... anticipation...Just wasted...

Mrs. Potts watched the young man's eyes turn red and bloodshot... As his body language got more tensed...His fingers curling into fists like he desperately wanted to hit something... Instantly, her maternity instincts took over and she found herself comforting him gently...

"Cheer up child... Hold your chin up high, believe me, it's not as bad as it seems...It'll be all right in the end, believe me..." she consoled. Beau almost let out a harsh laugh. As much as he cherished this teapot's kind words... He just couldn't bring himself to believe her... How could living with a beast in a castle not be bad? How could anything good come out of this?

Beau cursed under his breath.

"Thank you..." he said finally for his mind just couldn't find anything better to say. Mrs. Potts smiled.

"My pleasure... Oh! Look at me! Jabbering on when there's a supper to get on the table!" and with that, the teapot hopped out of the room followed by Chip.

"Bye Mister!" he called before disappearing behind the door.

Beau watched them with interest before a cough from Madame de la Grande Bouche caused him to turn around.

"So what shall we dress you in for dinner?"

Beau shook his head in disbelief, horrified that this wardrobe was going to attempt to... No she wouldn't "Dress me in..."

"OH I've got just the thing!" she declared joyously before pulling out an emerald waistcoat with elaborate silver trimmings from her drawers.

"This will look absolutely ravishing on you! The color will bring out your eyes and..."

Uneasily, Beau patted the side of the excited wardrobe. Her enthusiasm was touching and it almost made him fell guilty for what he was about to tell her.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to dinner..." Beau said firmly, handing the exquisite waistcoat back to her.

Madame's lip trembled. She looked thoroughly stumped. Was it due to his refusal of the clothes he had offered her or his defiance towards her mistress, Beau wasn't sure... But he was sure of one thing... HE WAS NOT GOING TO HAVE DINNER WITH A BEAST.

Before another word could be exchanged, there was a faint knock on the door before a tiny clock waddled in.

"Ahememememe... Dinner is served!" he announced gleefully.

Downstairs, in front of the fireplace, the beast paced back and forth nervously, her tail swishing madly as each second continued to drag painfully by.

"What's taking him so long..." she growled more to herself than anyone else.

"He should be here... Why is he late..."

"Try to be patient your majesty, the poor boy has just lost his father and his freedom all in one day..." Miss Potts reasoned gently only to get a low growl in reply.

Lumiere looked at Miss Potts uncomfortably before he too casually tried to calm the beast's nerves.

"Mistress... Have you thought that perhaps this young man might be the one to break the spell..." he began nervously.

The beast rolled her eyes before skeptically raising an eyebrow at the shaking candlestick.

"Lumiere, I'm not stupid..." she snapped before continuing her pacing.

"Very good then! All we need is you to fall in love with him, him to fall in love with you and POOF! The spell would be broken!" Lumiere declared happily.

The beast sighed and shook her head.

"It's not so simple Lumiere... He's so... handsome and I'm... Well look at me..." the candlestick and teapot flinched at their Mistress's fangs but said nothing as the beast continued her ranting...

" Its like everytime I'm near him... he acts like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world... anywhere except near me..." and for a moment the beasts ears flattened, her tail tucked between her legs, she now looked more like a lost sad puppy rather than a bloodthirsty beast.

For a moment, no one knew what to say... But Miss's Potts being her usual motherly self... brought herself to smile gently at the beast.

"Well tonight's your chance to change his mind about you and see past all of that..."

"I don't know how..." the beast said flatly, a frown plastered over her face.

"Well you can start by making yourself more presentable! Straighten up! Act like a proper lady!" Miss Potts commanded.

"Yes, when he comes give him a smile, a ravishing smile... Come! Come! Show me the smile..." Uneasily the beast smiled, or attempted to for all Lumiere saw were rows of deadly sharp teeth.

"But don't frighten him off!"

"Impress him with your manners and the art of conversation..."

"Don't overwhelm him though... You want him to feel at ease..."

"And above all..."

"YOU MUCT CONTROL YOUR TEMPER!" both teapot and candlestick emphasized with great effort.

Without warning the door handle creaked. Quickly, the beast shot up and took her seat, her face lit with apprehension. Unfortunately only an extremely nervous looking Cogsworth scurried in.

"Good evening..." he chuckled nervously.

The beast's ecstatic face crumpled like a deck of cards.

"Well... Where is he..." her voice dangerously silky.

"Who? Oh the young man... Well yes... you see your grace... the young man is in the delicate process... of... of...of... You see in these circumstances... he... he... he..." Cogsworth's nervous laughter waned, seeing there was no point continuing the façade he braced his nerves.

"He's not coming..." he finally admitted.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you jorhilic73 and TheIronMask for reviews. Phantom writer124 and vampire13e for following... Means a lot to me because it gets increasingly harder to produce more chapters while school is producing more projects... So I'm sorry it took so long. Anyway, the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update and hopefully the longer the chapter... So... REVIEW! and of course enjoy :)**

Lumiere and Miss Potts grimaced at Cogsworth's announcement before shakily turning to look at their mistress. The beast sat there, frozen in place, her jaw agape her eyes wide with surprise. Slowly, she crouched over, her green eyes blazing with cold fury, her claws digging into the table, her body trembling as if something within her would erupt. Without warning the beast threw herself up, and stormed out of the dinning hall. With panic written all over their faces, the servants dashed after their mistress, begging for her not to overreact. Their desperate pleas went unnoticed as upon reaching Beau's door the Beast pounded so heavily upon it, that it was a sheer miracle the door didn't fly off its hinges.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO COME DOWN TO DINNER?!" the beast bellowed, her hair standing on their ends.

"I thought I told you I wasn't hungry!" came Beau's cool voice.

The beast grabbed her head almost like she was ready to tear her hair out.

"YOU COME OUT OR I'll I'LL..."

"Mistress... I could be mistaken but that may not be the best way to win him over..." Lumiere hinted nervously with a smile.

"Please... Please ATTEMPT to be a lady..." Cogsworth begged.

"I'm trying...But HE is being so DIFFICULT!" the beast said silkily while baring her fangs at the door.

"You're no better yourself you know..."

The beast growled and raised her arm but to everyone's surprise she preceded to lower it and take a deep breath.

"Will you come down to dinner?" she tried again her tone of voice much much much more controlled.

"No!" came and immediate reply.

The beast glared at her servants in an almost triumphant way that screamed "I TOLD YOU SO!"

"Gently gently..." Miss Potts urged.

Sighing, the beast grabbed her cloaked, nearly tearing it to shreds as she curtseyed at the door, her tail practically sweeping the floor in annoyance.

"It would give me immense pleasure... If you would join me for dinner..." she said grimacing.

"We say please..." Cogsworth mumbled subtly.

The beast rolled her eyes.

"Please?"

"NO THANK YOU!"

"SO WHAT?! YOU"LL SIT IN THERE AND STARVE?!"  
"ITS BETTER THAN SITTING OUT THERE WITH YOU! WHAT GAME DO YOU THINK YOU"RE PLAYING? LOCKING INNOCENT PEOPLE UP IN COLD TOWERS THAN TREATING THEM TO DINNER EXPECTING FORGIVENESS? DO YOU THINK THIS IS AMUSING? WATCHING US SUFFERR? YOU"RE A MONSTER!"

The beast practically swelled up with rage and the servants honestly feared she'd explode and break down the door; Unexpectedly, she simmered down, her tone of voice once again becoming dangerously silky and controlled.

"Very well... You call me a monster, a monster I shall be..."

Turning to her servants, she glared daggers at them all causing them to all cower back in fear. Ignoring this, the beast leaned forward.

"If he doesn't eat with me... He doesn't eat at all!" she declared, a look of utter determination in her blazing eyes before she grabbed her cloak and stormed off...

There was uneasy silence among the servants, their ears still ringing from the unpleasant words that were exchanged not three minutes ago... The sound of a door being forcefully slammed echoed from somewhere in the castle, causing them all to unanimously wince...

"Well... That didn't go very well now, did it?" Mrs. Potts said finally shattering the uncomfortable silence among them.

"It certainly hasn't..." Cogsworth nodded in agreement, his head shaking in utmost disbelief. Even the usually upbeat Lumiere was lost for words. Another door slammed and the servants sighed... What were they thinking? There was no point trying to convince this young man that their mistress wasn't so bad... when in all honesty... SHE WAS THAT BAD... Feeling defeated, they slinked away, going back to their usual and unfortunately monotonous schedule...

Up in the West Wing, the beast burst into her room, throwing aside a table that just happened to be lying there. With a huff, she collapsed herself into her favorite armchair, digging her sharp claws into the antique oak, muttering to herself incoherently, obviously vexed by the day's events...

"Accepted his stupid bargain, released his father, gave him the nicest room in all of the East Wing and all I wanted in return...All I wanted was him to join me for dinner... Dinner! So he refuses... Fine, I ask him nicely again but he still refuses! How could he? ... I... He...Arrrghhh!" she snarled in frustration, knocking the armchair aside. With an animalistic growl, she paced around the room on all fours, then twos trying to avoid and forget the infuriating urge at the back of her mind.

"No... No... No... No..." she pleaded with herself, but it was a losing battle... to fight with her own curiosity and the beast caved.

Making her way to the stone table that stood at the balcony, she reached for the mirror.

"Show me the young man..." she muttered softly, trying to wish away the beastly reflection that glared back at her... The mirror clouded over and both Beau 's and Madame de la Grande Bouche's image appeared. The beast cringed as she saw Beau's enraged face... His gentle brown eyes were filled with unfamiliar hatred, his arms akimbo, his mouth fixed into a fierce scowl... Her ears perked up... Just a little... as the wardrobe attempted to cool the young man's nerves...

"You know... the mistress isn't so bad if you get to know her." The wardrobe said slowly. There was a huff from Beau who looked the other way...

The wardrobe bit her lip.

"You know that they say... Don't judge a book by its cover... Why don't you give her chance..."

There was no reply for a while and when Beau suddenly turned around, the beast straightened up, desperate to know his reply...

"You ask me no to judge a book by its cover didn't you?" he said softly.

The beast perked up some more, an unfamiliar feeling of... Come to think of it... Did she dare say it... hope... welling up in her chest... Eagerly, she leaned in closer...

"Well yes... Appearances can be deceiving... Believe me... So you shouldn't judge a book by its cover..." Madame de la Grande Bouche nodded. There was a harsh laugh from Beau, one that sent shivers down the Beast's spine.

"Lets look at the contents of this book then... That monster... locked my father up in a dungeon... My poor father who was lost in the woods and wanted nothing else but shelter from the cold... "

Madame was lost for words...

"Well I guess that is a... a little extreme..."

"She then proceeds to lock me up... Keep me as her prisoner... Just because I wanted to protect my father... My father who was dying at her hand... So this is my reward... ha! For being a good son, I lose my future, my friends and my family... So what difference does it make if I get to know your mistress?"

"Give her a second chance..."

"She doesn't deserve a second chance... Not now, not ever..." Beau said bitterly.

The beast flipped the mirror over, a low sad whimper escaping her lips. She didn't want to hear anymore ... She just couldn't bring herself to... His every word had sliced her like a knife... Cutting her...Hurting her... It was just too painful... She felt so tempted to just go straight into the East Wing and give Beau a piece of her mind... To throw him into the dungeons to rot... So he'd regret ever saying such horrible, horrible things about her... However, as appealing and soothing that sounded... She just couldn't bring herself to do it... because deep down in her conscience... the Beast knew every atrocity Beau had accused her of... was unfortunately true... And the truth hurts... It hurt so so much...

Glad that her room provided privacy, protection from the sharp eyes and the usual malicious talks of her servants... she buried her face into her clawed paws... Silent, shameful tears falling from her eyes...

"I'm just fooling myself... He'll never see me as anything... But a monster..."


	13. Chapter 13

** Hello readers, I have some important things to say, first of all... I'm sorry this took so long, really I am but I had auditions to attend and I had rehearsals that stretched well into the night so I'm really busy... But I made this chapter longer than the others as compensation... Second of all... Thank you jorholic73 for your support, TheIronMask for your compliments, iamthebooktheif (I should be thanking you for taking time to read my story) and also Pearl Bramble of Willowbottom for the multiple reviews you left me... I shall try and fix that problem... Third of all... This chapter is dedicated to my good friend jorholic73 because its a special day for him today and he has been supporting me even before this story got posted.. Last but not least... REVIEW AND of course Enjoy :)**

It was hours later when Beau finally threw in the towel. As defiant as he had tried to be, he couldn't help it... He was human... He was hungry...He needed something to satisfy that empty void in his stomach. With an encouraging nod from Madame, he took a deep breath and opened the door.

The creak of the door was not loud by any standards but to Beau, it echoed around the castle like the loud blaring of trumpets and he half expected the beast to come pouncing out the corner, ready to devour him for his defiance... But of course, she didn't and Beau heaved a huge sigh of relief... With a deep breath he started to roam the dark hallways.

Lumiere who was tasked with guarding Beau's door by no other than Cogsworth, did not notice this of course... In fact he was to busy frolicking with his bien-aimé to even care...

"Come ma chérie! Tickle me fancy!" he demanded in mock aggression while he chased a giggling Babette around the curtains.

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes!"

"Oh no! No! No! No!" Babette shrieked ducking under Lumiere's flaming arms.

"I've been burnt by you before!" she reminded him sternly but ended up giving into his passionate embrace. It was only when the Madame coughed awkwardly from the other room did Lumiere spin around. His jaw dropped, followed by Babette who huffed grumpily, shocked that her darling would be so careless with her...

Down in the kitchens, Mrs. Potts was in the delicate process of trying to get Chip to join his brothers and sisters in the cupboard, to get him to go to bed...

"Come now Chip... Back into the cupboard with your brothers and sisters..." she chided gently. Chip frowned and shook his head unwillingly.

"But I'm not sleepy..." he grumbled, pouting ever so slightly, his blue eyes wide with innocence... Mrs. Potts sighed, knowing exactly what the tiny teacup wanted...

"How about a story?" she offered.

"Yay! Story!" Chip cheered happily... Being the youngest did have its perks...

Getting into a comfortable position, Chip nodded eagerly a sign that his mother should start...

Mrs. Potts took a deep breath and began...

"Once upon a time... In a kingdom faraway..."

"I don't want that story! I've heard that one so many times! Tell me another! Tell me another!" Chip begged.

Mrs. Potts blinked in surprise.

"But darling... I don't know any..."

"Tell me about the King of this castle... No one ever talks about him!"

Mrs. Potts gasped in shocked.

"CHIP!" She said loudly... Horrified that her son dared bring up such a taboo subject. Quickly she turned around to ensure that the mistress wasn't there... The mere mention of the her parents guaranteed a violent outburst from the violent beast and sometimes Mrs. Potts wondered how long her son would be immune from the mistress's feared temper... True, the beast did have a soft spot for the little teacup, she did play with him when he was just a mere toddler and Chip of all people was the first to approach her when the curse took hold... He was the one who had convinced her to come out of the West Wing when she had locked herself in, refusing all food and water... However the beast was definitely not known for her consistency towards treating others and Mrs. Potts was sure that one day... Even Chip would tick her off...

Mrs. Potts shuddered... The image of shattered China appearing in her head...

"Chip... Promise me you'll never speak of this again..."

"Mama..."

"PROMISE ME!" Mrs. Potts demanded, her tone fiercer than ever before causing Chip to recoil in surprise.

"I promise..." Chip said quickly not liking his mother's behavioral change...

"Good..." she concluded firmly before giving Chip a sad smile.

"I'm sorry darling... Mama's feeling a little under the weather today... Forgive me?" she asked gently noticing Chip's sudden uncomfort...

Chip nodded slowly.

"Alright mama... I'm going to bed now alright?" he said sweetly noticing how tired his mother looked. Planting a quick kiss on her cheek, Chip bounded back to his usual spot in the cupboard and closed his eyes. Yawning, before slowly falling asleep...

Mrs. Potts sighed as the cupboard doors creaked shut. As delightful as it was to have guests in the house...The past two days had just been pure pandemonium thanks to him... An emotional rollercoaster of ups and downs...

"CLANG!" came a loud crash of metal pans, snapping Mrs. Potts out of her revere. Scowling, she turned to face the castle's chef...

"Careful... We don't want any of that breaking do we?" she warned.

The oven groaned. "I don't care! All day I slave and FOR WHAT?! A culinary master piece gone to WASTE!" he wailed miserably.

Mrs. Potts rolled her eyes. "Oh stop your grousing, it's been a long day for all of us..."

There was an audible snort from Cogsworth.

"If you'd ask me, he was just being STUBBORN! After all, the mistress did say please..." Cogsworth muttered angrily.

Mrs. Potts blinked, surprised by how much Cogsworth's expectations of the Mistress's etiquette has dropped... He did know that she was still human beneath all that fur didn't he? Basic manners should be present in any respectable person, and the mistress should be no exception... But then again... Even Mrs. Potts was in doubt of how much humanity the Beast had left...

"Well yes... She did say please for the first time... In years..." Mrs. Potts admitted.

"Exactly!" Cogsworth exclaimed tossing a towel into the cabinet.

While the two bickered about their predicament, it just happened that Beau recognized the voice of the kindly old tea pot who had offered him tea hours ago. Carefully, he peered his head into the kitchen and seeing Mrs. Potts, started to make his way towards her...  
"But if she doesn't learn to control that temper... The s..."

"SPLENDID to see you and about Monsieur!" Cogsworth interrupted loudly noticing Beau's presence. Beau took a step back in surprise before rolling his eyes at himself. He really should get used to being greeted by household objects at this point... After all... This was a beast's castle, what could possibly define normality here?

Nodding politely, he reached out to shake the clock's hand only to have it grabbed by an enthusiastic candlestick that, unknown to Beau had been tagging behind him for the past ten minutes...

"A pleasure to finally meet you mon ami!" Lumiere said enthusiastically. That was true on his part... Honestly, hopping around with no feet for ten minutes was no easy task... Beau was lost for words while Cogsworth rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed.

"This is Lumiere..." he said dryly.

"At your service monsieur! If there is anything I can do for you... Anything at all... JUST NAME IT!" Lumiere offered happily ignoring Cogsworth's horrified face.

Beau smiled, touched by Lumiere's generosity.

"Thank you for your kindness but I..." A loud growl erupted from Beau's slim stomach causing everyone to stare...

"Monsieur... You must be starving!" Lumiere declared shaking his head while Beau grinned sheepishly.

"Come this way..." Lumiere gestured before being forcefully pushed back by Cogsworth...

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" the clock declared, his arms thrown out to add emphasis.

"Have you forgotten what the mistress said or have you gone completely mad?" he hissed at Lumiere, his finger jabbing accusingly at the candlestick's chest, his moustache literally ticking with uneasiness. Lumiere sneered before burning Cogsworth's finger.

"Have a heart Cogsworth..." he pleaded, his tone serious...

The clock puffed his chest out pompously, prepared to drag Beau back to his quarters by the hair if necessary... Why did Lumiere insist on making his job so miserable? Did he think that being head of household to a spoilt, ill tempered, unreasonable beast was easy? It was hard... IT WAS DANGEROUS! He had to keep everyone in the castle safe... To minimize conflict with the Mistress... Why did Lumiere keep trying to jeopardize this... And why did everyone else seem to listen to him more? Didn't they realize Lumiere was just going to lead them into trouble one day... Oh... and when that day happens... It'd be retribution Cogsworth promised himself. However, the young man had nothing to do with this...With a sigh, he softened... a little...

"Mrs. Potts, get the young man a crust of bread and a glass of water, then make sure he..."

"Cogsworth, he's not a prisoner... He's a guest! We should make him feel welcome here!" Lumiere argued. There were unanimous shouts of agreement. Cogsworth groaned. Oh democracy...

"FINE!" he hissed completely exasperated. There were cheers of approval...

"JUST KEEP IT DOWN!" he warned while Lumiere guided Beau into the dining hall.

"Of course, of course..." Lumiere nodded absent-mindedly... not even absorbing half of Cogsworth's warnings...

"But what is dinner without a little... MUSIC..." Lumiere smiled.

"Yes yes music... MUSIC?! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Cogsworth shrieked only to get knocked aside by the heavy doors...


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you TheIronMask** **and Iamthebookthief for both the reviews and your encouraging messages. I literally couldn't help but smile at your kind words and I did do fairly well in my audition in case you were wondering :) This is a longer chapter and also a little glimpse at the beast's past so REVIEW... I'm serious... Nah but really your criticism is what keeps this story going... Literally because if you left it to my personal motivation... I would have stopped at chapter 3... Anyway enjoy and review :)**

Beau watched in amazement as Lumiere beckoned him towards a HUGE table. It was so long it'd probably take up half his house back in the village...

"This is amazing..." he gasped as Lumiere gestured for him to sit down. Cautiously, Beau bent to make himself comfortable only to yelp in surprise as the chair, with a life of its own ran forward and sat Beau firmly down on its seat...

Before Beau could react to this, Lumiere came hopping over to him at top speed and with a grin plastered over his face, he literally shoved a menu into Beau's face. Beau grabbed the parchment in surprise; honestly, he was starting to think that the castle's inhabitants had no idea what invasion of personal space was... However his annoyance was soon subsided as course after course AFTER COURSE of heavenly food, each platter more impressive than the last presented themselves in front of him... Beef ragout, cheese soufflé, pie and pudding en flambé, it was amazing! As Beau eagerly started to dig in, a giant golden chandelier engraved so intricately with craftsmanship of the highest order stole his breath away as it descended as heavenly as an angel from the roof filling the dark room with unfamiliar warm light... Chuckling at Beau's amazement Lumiere took a low bow.

"Be our guest... Be our guest..."

After an hour of stuffing himself senseless... Beau patted his tight abdomen, surprised that it didn't sag due to the amount of food he had consumed.

"Bravo! Bravo!" he applauded at Lumiere and the rest of the dancing culinary objects, appreciating the effort they had put in to entertain him... And although he hated himself for thinking this, Beau was actually... it sounded quite ironic but... He was staring to genuinely enjoy himself.

"Thank you monsieur! You are too kind! Too kind!" Lumiere bowed humbly, glad that the young man enjoyed his talents while the mistress certainly hasn't... It was nice to see a cheerful face in the gloomy castle for once, and from what Lumiere could see, Beau was in no doubt... Excited to the point he was actually smiling... However, good things had to come to an end and this came in the form of a raving Cogsworth.

"Yes excellent, good show everybody! Splendid job just splendid!" the clock applauded in an almost condescending manner while also conveniently stealing center stage from Lumiere.

"My goodness! Look at the time! Now its off to bed! OFF TO BED!" Cogsworth exclaimed, gesturing desperately doing his best to ignore the fuming Lumiere and the somewhat annoyed Beau, it was hard... and not to mention HURTFUL but by God, the Mistress was going to have his neck if she found out about this... call Cogsworth old fashioned if you want, but he'd prefer to have a head on his shoulders...

Beau tried to smile; the clock was getting on his nerves... Why was he so desperate to keep Beau from enjoying the castle... Not that Beau liked it, but it housed walking, talking breathing dancing objects for crying out loud! Who in their right state of mind would want to go to bed at a time like this? With a cough, he tried to persuade the uptight Cogsworth to think otherwise.

"You are right monsieur, sleep does sound right at a time like this... but I can't possibly go now! Its my first night in an ENCHANTED castle after all!"

Cogsworth's pendulum almost swung out in panic the minute the young man had uttered the word "Enchanted".

"Enchanted?" he squirmed nervously.

"What on earth would make you think this castle was enchanted?" Cogsworth laughed while glaring angrily at a small fork that chose the most inconvenient of times to go tap-dancing across the table.

Beau rolled his eyes.

"I figured it out by myself... So if you don't mind, I would actually like to take a look around." He said dryly.

"Ooh! Would you like a tour?" Lumiere offered enthusiastically seeing both the opportunity to get away from Cogsworth AND more importantly to impress the young man... Beau nodded eagerly and the duo quickly made a beeline for the door...

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" came Cogsworth's loud yell causing both Lumiere and Beau to halt in their steps. Leaping off the table, Cogsworth grabbed Lumiere by the shoulders and harsh whispers were exchanged between the two... Beau scratched his head uneasily, of course he couldn't hear their conversation but he did catch snippets of it. Thinking hard, he decided to put Cogsworth at ease who in his opinion got worked up to easily and quickly... Cogsworth was a wet blanket after all...

"Maybe YOU should give the tour!" Beau offered dramatically, "You are the HEAD of household after all and I reckon you know EVERYTHING there is to know about the castle..." Beau cajoled sweetly while bringing himself down to the flustering clock's level.

"Well I... I..." Seeing no point in being modest, Cogsworth puffed out his chest confidently.

"I do actually..."

"As you can see, the pseudo-façade was stripped away to reveal the minimalist Rococo design..."

It wasn't even half an hour and Beau already felt bored out of his mind by Cogsworth's monotonous ramblings ... The tour was in no way entertaining by any standards and he almost felt compelled to retreat to his quarters and call it a night. As they passed by a line up of knight armors, Beau's eyes drifted to a stairwell that was strangely more dimly lit compared to the other parts of the castle...

"Note the unusual inverted vaulted ceilings over by the West Wing... This is yet another example..."

"So that's the West Wing..." Beau thought and instantly, his curiosity kicked in... He just HAD to know what the beast was hiding up there...

Looking at the still rambling Cogsworth, Beau tiptoed his way to the stairway before quietly ascending it...

Upon reaching the top, Beau's earlier excitement began to fade as he entered a sinister hallway. It was horrific at a best, littered with broken statues and torn paintings of gargoyles demons and monsters...

"Relatives of the Beast perhaps?" Beau thought snidely, he knew it was cruel, but who could deny the resemblance? Stopping at a wall, he paused to look at his reflection in front of a shattered mirror, every shard of glass reflecting his disturbed fear... Turning away from the troubling feeling it presented him, Beau continued down the hall, and soon came upon a rather foreboding closed door. If his curiosity had not completely assaulted his senses, Beau would have without a doubt, turned around and returned to his quarters. However, the urge to know why the Beast had forbade him to enter this place overwhelmed him and with a deep breath, Beau grabbed onto the gargoyle shaped handles, and pulled on the door with all his might... It opened with a ghostly groan and cautiously... he entered...

Like this will ever work out... He hates me... and who could blame him... I hate me too..." the Beast cursed as she looked over her balcony. Disgusted that the once beautiful land, populated with woodland creatures and exotic flowers was now filled with nothing but bare trees and bloodthirsty wolves... Wolves...

"Probably an extra precaution to keep me in this place... Or to keep people out..." Beast thought bitterly as a wolf howl pierced the night's air. Sadly she laid her large head on her arms, and tried to avoid thinking about what became of those woodland creatures after the wolves came. Instead, she drowned herself within one of her favorite past times... Self pity...

The beast clenched her fists angrily, she didn't ask for this... She didn't DESERVE any of this. She was just a child when it happened... Just a stupid careless naïve child who didn't know any better... Naïve she was, as she spent the first week of her transformation telling herself that the Enchantress had made a mistake... That it was a nightmare and she'd wake up in her own beautiful body... That these horrid, fangs, claws, fur, horns... Traits that belonged to that of some savage animal would vanish... But that was not to be...

Every morning she'd wake to see that face... The face that the Enchantress had given to her... The face she despised with all her heart, that face that branded her as a monster... A new kind of monster that couldn't help but stifle a scream at her own reflection every morning... Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months and the beast fell to despair... but despair turned to animalistic rage, and she started to uncontrollably lash out at anything and everything. She broke through chairs, pillars and tables with her newfound strength, destroyed paintings, curtains and paintings by tooth and claw...

None of this helped, in fact it only added to her shame at the aftermath... Princesses did not engage in such barbaric behavior... Beasts did...

"What's the point? What's the bloody point of all this..." the beast had asked herself. She was a beast now, no amount of crying, screaming; praying was going to change any of this... With her perseverance destroyed and her will crumbled, the beast submitted into her new twisted shape, walking on all fours, growling and snarling, refusing to wear dresses, opting for her father's old shirts and breeches... She went as far as to stop thinking about her name and it soon drifted close to oblivion, to the back of everyone's sub consciousness. She was called for what she truly was... "Beast..."

Returning to the present... the beast uttered a low pained whine as her eyes landed on the bridge... She was standing on this very spot years back, watching the same bridge while her parents fled the castle on horse back... They had fled form her... Their only daughter... If all things, they should have been the ones to face the Enchantress's wrath... THEY were the ones who had raised her to be the brat she had turned out to be... They were to blame... and yet she was the one suffering for their mistakes...

"Mama... Papa... Would you still cringe if you saw me now? Would you have attacked me with swords like you did? Did you ever love me?" the beast thought sadly before closing her eyes, childishly waiting, longing for their familiar voices to reply despite dreading the answer... Suddenly, a series of soft footsteps soon interrupted her thoughts and she shot up, not wanting anyone to see her pitiful state... Silently she crept to the balcony doors and peered through the torn curtains. What she saw made her heart go ice cold in terror.

**P.s: I'm sorry I didn't do a rewrite for Be our guest, I know its more iconic than the Gaston song but there really isn't anything much to change apart form subbing out the word Mademoiselle with monsieur... Also I like writing about the beast and I wanted you all to know more about her... Ahem... If any of you can think of a good name for her that starts with A and sounds relatively like Adam pls be my guest (get it? ok I'm lame) and leave it in the review box... Thank you and have a nice day (this sounds random)... **


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello... Well if any of you readers are wondering why this took so long... 1) A lack of review 2) I broke my finger... LITERALLY so its awkward when you type with nine fingers and you have this tree trunk of a cast clumsily flopping around... Anyway... Thank you TheIronMask, Boo and No Name Nathan for reviewing and also your ideas, I'll put consideration into your suggestions... also thank you Mary-Pyroangel for favouriting :) Means a lot to me... Well here it is... And please so I know my howls of pain aren't in vain... Please review... Oh and give suggestions! GIVE SUGGESTIONS... joking, but it's make my job a whole lot easier :) ok thats it and enjoy...**

Beau squinted with all his might as he entered the room, doing his best to adjust to the darkness... As he continued into the gloom, he started tearing apart the never-ending waves of cobwebs, the room was in such a state of neglect, it was simply impossible anyone could live here... There was nothing but ragged curtains, heaps of dust and shattered furniture... Beau shuddered, were any of these broken fragments once alive?

"Ooof!" he grunted as he clumsily collided into a small table, catching it just in the nick of time before it crashed onto the ground. As he straightened himself up, he caught sight of a familiar set of piercing emerald eyes glaring back at him...

He stopped short, breathing heavily as he turned to face those bright emerald eyes. But those eyes didn't belong to that of the monstrous beast but to that of a girl... A girl in a painting... Cautiously, Beau approached the work of art, noticing the claw marks that tore through it... The Beast's doing no doubt...

"What a shame..." he thought sadly as he looked at the girl... She was disturbingly... beautiful from what he could see, with defined elfin features, rosy cheeks and large doe shaped eyes... A shudder went through Beau; those eyes were so haunting they almost looked familiar... Like he knew...

"That's impossible..." Beau thought, he had never seen this girl in all his life... If he had encountered such a rare beauty, he'd be a fool for not remembering but... There was no doubt in his mind that she was definitely eerily familiar... Before he could delve into the matter any further, a bright crimson flash illuminated the room, causing Beau to turn around... He gasped, there on a stone table lay the most perfect red blossom... The ideal flower, so red it made blood pale in comparison... It literally defied gravity, hanging in mid air as graceful as rose could be... As if under a spell, Beau found himself drawn to it, intrigued that the flower was not just able to glow radiantly but also hover without external support... Without thinking, Beau lifted the glass casing that housed this beauty, his hand reaching out to stroke the silken petals. But before he could do so, the beast materialized from the shadows...

Beau felt his knees buckling and he quickly flinched away in fear... In the moonlight, the bluish hue casted over the craggy features of the beast, bringing them into shaper relief making her look even more terrifying and monstrous... Seeing the glass case of her precious rose removed, the Beast quickly leapt over the table and hurriedly reached for the glass casing, hastily placing it in its original position her eyes shinning with panic. Looking at Beau's confused face, which slowly transformed into one of disgust, the beast, felt a wave of cold fury wash over her... This man... this fool obviously had no idea of the colossal consequences that could have transpired should he have altered the rose in any way... For one, the beast would have been stuck in this nightmare for all eternity... And that was an existence she just couldn't bare...

Slowly, her fangs bared, she turned to Beau.

"What...are...you...doing...here..." she asked barely able to form words through her growls.

"I... I..."

"Didn't I tell you never to come here?!" the beast hissed, her anger reaching breaking point.

"I meant no harm... I...

"Do you know WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE?!" Unable to contain her anger any longer, beast lashed out, her strong arms tearing through a wooden table that stood between her and Beau. Terrified for his life, Beau reached for a chair to defend himself only to gasp in horror as the Beast smashed it into smithereens before he could even touch it. Becoming genuinely afraid for his life, Beau attempted to run under her only to be thrown into the air and crash heavily near the door. Rubbing his head, he glanced up only to see the Beast charging towards him like an enraged bull. Thinking quickly, he opened the door and flung himself out, slamming the door just as Beast rammed herself into it. The impact of the collision sent them both sprawling onto the ground...

Feeling his heart rate skyrocket, Beau hastily picked up his aching body.

"ARGHH!" came an animalistic roar from the other side of the door followed by something shattering. Beau backed away desperately his body quivering in fear. Another loud roar finally gave him the urge to run for his life. He threw himself down the stairs, grabbing his cloak as he did so, completely ignoring Lumiere and Cogsworth as he stumbled into the stables. Saddling Philippe, Beau quickly grabbed the reins and forced the horse out of the cursed castle and into the dark woods.

Back in the West Wing, the beast's head finally cleared, her animalistic rage slowly fading... Dazed, she looked around the room to find virtually every piece of furniture broken.

"Oh no... No...Not again..." she whimpered burying her face into her clawed hands only to look up in surprise. Dangling from her claws, a piece of Beau's sleeve, covered in blood...

"No..." she whispered, not daring to believe her eyes... She couldn't have... As much as she hated him...She'd never...

"What have I done... What have I done..." she whispered, her green eyes wide with fear.

Shaking her head, the beast leaned over the table and tried to ignore the guilt that was washing over her.

"He was being stupid... Stupid boy...I told him not to come here... I told him..." she hissed to herself. However the image of the bloody sleeve kept drifting in and out of her consciousness...

"No... He deliberately disobeyed me... He deserved it!" her lip curled into a sneer at her own inner thoughts.

"But then again... ARGHHH Damn him!"

Unable to bottle her regret anymore the Beast decided to do something she'd never thought she do... Just to get the infuriating weight off her chest...She was going to apologize to Beau...

Throwing open the doors, the Beast dashed down the stairs only to trip on her long tail and nearly flattening Cogsworth in the process.

"Mistress..."

"Cogsworth... oh thank God... Have you seen the..."

Cogsworth's face became distorted, almost... like he was angry with her.

"The young man has left us..."

The beast couldn't believe her ears.

"WHAT?!" she cried in disbelief. "No he..."

"Unfortunately Mistress... He is gone..."

"But the blizzard and the..." As if on cue, a wolf's howl pierced the air.

The beast looked out the window... Her eyes widening in realization... She grabbed her hair...

"The wolves... oh my God... Wolves... He's going to GET HIMSELF KILLED!"

Ignoring Cogsworth's shouts, the beast ran down the remaining stairs and out the doors, slamming it shut behind her. Taking a deep breath, she sniffed the air and proceeded to search for Beau, praying with all her heart that he was all right...


	16. Chapter 16

**Right... The next chapter will have the beast's name in it, SO THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO GIVE ME IDEAS... Moving on... Thank you jorholic73 and TheIronMask for reviewing... My finger is still very sore but its better thank you for asking... Oh yes, thank you The Bad Apple for following an favouriting the story, you made my week :) The rest of my lovely readers... Pls review? PLS? A comment from you drives me to produce chapters faster even with a broken finger :) Also, I like to better myself in my writing skills so... Good, bad I don't mind... Anyway, enjoy...**

Beau's pulled his cloak closer to his shivering body. Maybe running out the castle during a blizzard wasn't the best of ideas... But what else could he do... The Beast had tried to kill him...Well not exactly... But that monster was crazy... She was cruel, she was rude and she got so worked up about... of all things a rose...

"Who knew..." he grumbled his teeth chattering from the cold. However, Beau did however feel a tiny twinge of guilt. The beast HAD warned him not to enter the west wing... And he had deliberately entered the west wing... He was in the wrong as much as the Beast was... Maybe he should turn back... At least to apologize... But what good would it do? What did the Beast know of human behavior such as forgiveness, amnesty and most importantly self control... From the looks of it, she didn't...

"What a world..." he grumbled to Philippe who snorted in reply.

Some time later, Beau wiped the snow off his brow, his eyes desperately combing for a familiar sight... It was hopeless however; all he saw were snow-covered trees that all looked painfully alike. There was a nervous whinny from Philippe who proceeded to stop, and then stamp the ground nervously.

"I don' t know boy... Where do you want to go?" Beau asked. The stallion snorted then preceded to continue, trusting his master's judgment...

As the duo trotted forward, Beau stiffened as he heard what seemed like a low wolf's howl...

"Hopefully its alone..." Beau prayed knowing wolves only attacked in packs ...

Looking around nervously, a sinking feeling started to emerge... Among the fauna he noticed what appeared to be bright golden flecks eyeing him hungrily...

"Keep calm... Keep calm... Keep calm,..." Beau muttered, trying in vain to reassure himself, recalling the book he read about savage animals, that they could smell fear and the most dangerous thing he could do at the moment was to bolt...

Patting Philippe's trembling flanks, he tried to edge the nervous stallion forward only to accidently have Philippe breaking into a gallop and if walking into a well planned ambush, a pack of snarling wolves leaped from their various hiding spots.

Philippe reared back in fear as the mangy carnivores snapped at his hooves. Instinctively, he bolted with Beau barely clinging on. The two blundered loudly through the trees, not really knowing where they were going while the wolves followed nimbly, their bright eyes glowing brighter as they anticipated a filling dinner for the first time in months. Snarling, the alpha male signaled for the others to close in on their prey before bravely lunging onto the towering horse. Philippe, feeling the sharp claws of a predator on his back quickly kicked with all his might. He succeeded, not only did he manage to throw off his wolf, but also a screaming Beau.

"Philippe! Beau screamed as he landed with a loud thud into the snow. The horse, hearing his master's calls tried to turn back only to have the long reins get tangled up among sharp branches. Whinnying in fear and panic, Philippe tried to pull free, but his senseless thrashings only succeeded to get the reins more interlocked within the branches. Seeing the trapped horse, the wolves took advantage of it and approached a helpless Philippe, their tongues hanging out in excitement before the bravest of the lot lunged for his meal.

"Thwack!" and the wolf found itself sprawled painfully on the ground. Beau gritted his teeth as he brandished a long tree branch at the other wolves, trying to intimidate them into running away... However, hunger overpowered fear and the wolves bravely advanced... Beau did his best to wrestle off the wolves, however he was clearly outmatched. Everytime he lashed out at one, another would seize the opportunity to attack him. Exhaustion soon caught up with him and he got careless... Finally one of the wolves pounced from behind, pinning Beau down by his cloak. As he tried to undo the infuriating piece of clothing another wolf pounced onto his chest. It's golden eyes gleaming in anticipation as its twisted snout lunged for Beau's throat...

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" and Beau felt the weight of the wolf quickly removed from his chest. Slowly he opened his eyes to see no other than the beast herself standing over him on all fours, her face contorted with fury as she snarled and growled like the wolves that surrounded them.

With a quick flash of snow, she lunged onto the nearest wolf, hurling it into the trees. Not stopping to think, she did the same with the others, ignoring those who latched onto her back grabbing and throwing those she could into the air. However, Beau's watchful eyes soon noticed that she was starting to weaken. Like he was... she was outnumbered... Quickly grabbing the tree branch, he did his best to drive off whatever wolves the beast had missed. Together, working in synch they held off as many as they could.

Finally, by some miracle, the wolves backed off one by one disappearing into the darkness as quickly and mysteriously as they had appeared. Beau heaved a sigh of relief only to back away seconds later as the beast approached him. She staggered clumsily at first, a low animal like grunt escaping her before her green eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed heavily in front of him.

Beau paused before running back to Philippe, shaking his head as he clambered onto the horse.

"This is your chance to be free...Don't don't..." he looked back at the beast's unconscious body. Noticing how the blood from her arm and her back was staining the snow bright crimson in color.

"There is nothing you can do for her... Nothing..." Beau lied to himself. This was a chance of a lifetime and it was literally being handed to him on a silver platter, the chance he was praying for since he was locked up in that ghastly castle... to escape from this god-forsaken nightmare. But the thought of how the beast had came to his rescue lingered at the back of his mind. This monster could have easily watched and let the wolves kill him, to rip him limb from limb before finally devouring him... but still she decided to come to his rescue... Injuring herself... quite badly in the process... The guilt of leaving the beast behind was just too much for Beau to bear, even if she was... beastly...

He sighed, and disembarked Philippe.

"A life for a life..." Beau muttered.

Carefully he approached the stiff body reaching for her arm to check her pulse. There was one... Somewhat relieved, he laid the arm back down. Circling the beast, he pondered how he was going to bring her back to the castle. He couldn't leave her here while he ran back for help at the castle, the wolves might just decide to return and feed on her body... Also, he doubted household objects being able to provide much help in a situation like this... Dragging her was not an option either... Deciding the most efficient way was to load her onto Philippe carry her from there... Beau grimaced as he slid his arms under the beast's body and lifted her up.

"Wooah..." Beau mumbled as he tried to regain his balance. The beast was surprisingly...Light...So light that he almost fell over while carrying her as he had used too much force to lift her. Looking down at the body he cradled, it stunned him how frail and vulnerable the she was ... Despite the disgust Beau felt towards the beast earlier... Upon closer inspection, he discovered she wasn't as terrible as he thought. In fact, there was a certain... he wouldn't say beauty ...but appeal... to her, Beau wasn't sure if it was the large doe shaped eyes or the peaceful, almost innocent expression she carried when unconscious... Either ways there was definitely something there he hadn't noticed before. Gently, Beau lay the unconscious beast onto the nervous Philippe. Grabbing the reins he sighed before reluctantly trudging back to the very place he wanted to escape from...


	17. Chapter 17

**Right... Its here... Now before you all shoot me over the beast's name... I will first like to thank jorholic73, TheIronMask for reviewing... Enpowera for following and Autobot21 for following, favouriting and reviewing... THANK YOU (you absolutely made my day) ... Here it is... Enjoy and REVIEW... And there will be a written justification below on why I chose the name that I did...**

It was an hour before the beast regained consciousness... Although to her, it felt like an entire year... Sitting up, she noticed that she was in the drawing room of her castle... The beast shook her head in confusion... Wasn't she in the forest looking for that idiot? Or was it just some bizarre nightmare?

"Nnnn..." she groaned rubbing her throbbing forehead hissing slightly as she noticed the numerous bite marks on her arm... No it wasn't a nightmare... It was real... Groaning, she bent down to lick her arm, only to stop when someone held her head, causing her to look up.

"Don't do that... You'll get an infection..." Beau instructed the uneasy beast only to get a low growl in reply...

"Come on..." but the beast growled once again, eyeing the hot towel in his hand, almost like she was afraid of it...

"Hold still..." he advised trying to hold back his surprise as the beast did all in her power to avoid the hot towel. Rolling his eyes, Beau slyly grabbed onto her arm and pressed the hot towel onto the bloody wound. His actions were rewarded with an earthshattering roar.

"THAT HURTS!" she bellowed angrily, tears welling up in her eyes.

"If you didn't move, it wouldn't hurt so much..." Beau said sarcastically washing the blood off.

"If you hadn't ran... than none of this would have happened..." the beast sulked.

"Well if you hadn't tried to kill me I wouldn't have run off..."

"Then you shouldn't have come into the west wing!"

Beau rolled his eyes. Ignoring her previous argument, he pressed the towel onto her arm a second time, stifling laughter as the beast released a dog like whine. For someone who looked so terrifying, she acted like a small helpless child.

"You're really something you know that... First you attempt to kill me in the west wing, and then you risk your life saving me from wolves... Now you're no better than a seven year old..."

The Beast, used to years of nothing but obedience, was momentarily taken aback by Beau's defiance. She opened her mouth to retort, but stopped, only to stare at him with those beautifully haunting green eyes. Finally, with her lips pursed she slumped back into the chair...

"I'm sorry..." she mumbled.

Beau blinked, nearly dropping the towel he was holding.

"What was that?" he asked slowly, hardly believing his ears.

The beast sighed, like admitting her mistakes pained her to the core, but she did so anyway...

"I'm sorry." She repeated. "I'm sorry for trying to kill you... I didn't mean to... It's just that... You have no idea... how its like... living here... alone... looking the way I do... where people can't bear to look at you... and even your own servants fear you... and..." noticing Beau's expression, she quickly clamped her mouth shut knowing at once she had said too much.

Beau sat there allowing her short confession to sink in. It never dawned on him that this beast... this monster could have human emotions... It was like talking to a totally different person... or beast... Also, it genuinely surprised him that she was aware of how her appearance affected other people... Curious, Beau turned around and true enough the servants were cowering behind a large table, their eyes wide with fear he then turned to the beast whose eyes refused to meet his...

For the first time, Beau felt... sorry for the beast... She didn't ask to be born like this... Maybe... Maybe he could have been wrong about her... Who would want to be born for the sole purpose of scaring the living daylights out of people... Not anyone he could think of... It must be terribly... lonely...Finally, Beau gave her a small smile.

"Well... I want to apologize too and... Thank you...You saved my life..."

The beast's ears perked up, her eyebrows raised

"Your... your welcome..." she said cautiously.

Beau nodded before reaching for the bandages.

It took about another twenty minutes before all her wounds were cleaned and dressed and although the Beast was an enormous baby about the entire affair, she did manage a grudging "thank you" once the ordeal was over...

Beau whipped the hair out of his face, his ears still ringing from the numerous roars and whines of pain that escaped the beast... The beast... Could he even call her that anymore? She seemed so... She was just so different from the terrifying monster he had met hours before... He looked at her, noticing how she was looking at her bandages nervously... Her ears pressed against her head as her green eyes glanced to meet his, an almost scared expression within them and for a moment, Beau could see the vulnerability of another human being within them... However that moment of uncertainty was broken when the beast, noticing the amused expression on his face, turned once again to look away...

"Why don't we start over?" Beau suggested after a round of tensed silence and getting nowhere... The beast looked up, her fur bristling with unnecessary nervousness...

"What do you mean?" her voice still cautious...

"Well for starters I haven't told you my name yet ..."

"Yes... you haven't..." she said flatly.

"Well... My name is Beau... Beau Chevalier..."

"Beau... That's a nice name... Beau Chevalier..." the beast mumbled softly.

Beau shrugged.

"Thank you ..."

There was an awkward silence for a little while before Beau tried again...

"Why don't you tell me your name?" he asked gently.

The beast recoiled a little, like a wild animal being cornered.

"My... My name?" she said uncertainly almost like she didn't know how to respond...

Beau winced... Was he making a mistake asking for her name? Did beasts even have names? Well they had to right? How else would they tell each other apart...

"Do you have a name?" he asked curiously without thinking.

"I have a name!" the beast shot back indigently. "It's just been... So long since..." her tone died down...

Beau slid his hands in his pockets... Not knowing what else to do, he decided to just drop the matter all together...

"Its alright... You don't have to tell me if you don't want to... I..."

"Angela " The beast said softly "My name was... is Angela..."

Beau blinked, genuinely surprised by the sweetness of her name... He was expecting something along the lines of Lamia, Lilith, Belial, Muriel... Berith even... Names that belonged to those of creatures just like the beast... But Angela? That was just so... unexpected... A cough snapped him out of his revere, reminding him of the beast's presence... Despite his doubts about her, Beau smiled warmly at the beast...

"Angela... A beautiful name..."

From the far corner of the room behind their table, the servants couldn't help but smile wholeheartedly as well at the spectacle before them... For once in those long, lonely ten years, they felt something that they thought they had all forgotten...They felt hope...

**Yeah... Angela... Its pretty right? Ok... All those who suggested names that I didn't use... Here is why...**

**Adamina- I think everyone was banking on this name because the beast's name is Adam and I did just make Belle (feminine pretty) , Beau ( masculine pretty)... However... Adamina just didn't work for me as I think it'd just be too literal... I didn't want that because I tried to make my beast a little more different than her male counterpart... He's more angry and just... Well angry... But I tried to make my beast more cold and spiteful but still similar to the disney one... Using the female version of Adam just blurs those lines to me... so... yeah... **

**Ada- Personally, this name was just to short for my liking... Not that its a bad name... Its just to short for royalty and a princess... I thought of lengthening it and Ada could be used as a nickname but the best I could get was Adara and Adamina... so... That name... Still doesn't sound like royalty, So...**

**Adelaide- German for noble... I came quite close to picking this one due to its meaning but as a good friend of mine puts it... "Adelaide has that old world ring to it but is too long and would kinda clash with a simple name like Beau" I totally agree to this and its also quite a uncommon name so I guess it would also come off as a bit strange... **

**Autumn- I'll be honest... I REALLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO PICK THIS ONE... I don't know why but its just so elegant and beautiful and has so much visual imagery associated with it...I really really loved it... But... Its not the name that would be given to a princess despite its beauty so... Arghh me overanalysing everything...**

**So why Angela you scream... Well... One, it was a fairly popular name among the royals for some time.. Sounds like something over ambitious kings and queens would choose right... Also it means good or good at heart (also means messenger of God but... ) which is what the beast is... She's terrible on the outside and maybe a little mean spirited on the inside but she's good at heart... Lastly, the name adds a sad irony to the whole situation why a monster would be named after something as beautiful as an angel... so... You draw your own conclusions...**

**I want to thank all the readers for their suggestions and one of my best friends for helping me with the final verdict :) I'm sorry if the name didn't come out as what you had offered but I did put a great deal of thought into this and I still want to thank you anyway... Love the name, hate the name, leave a review and tell me... **


	18. Chapter 18

**Well would you look at this... I'm still alive and no one has shot me yet... Just kidding, thank you TheIronMask, jorholic73, Iamthebookthief and Autobot21 for reviewing and assuring me... Your reviews and words of comfort just absolutely made my day:) Also, thank you bookbelle.314 for following my story, means the world to me... Well here it is... Enjoy and review :) **

Morning dawned over the castle with the sun rising out of the clouds, its strong rays awakening Beau from his slumber. It took him quite a while to remember where he was... Locked up in a castle... Far away from his family and friends whom he'd probably never see again... With a beast... Still, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit better as the events of the previous day came flooding back to him... With a deep sigh, Beau dragged himself out of the too soft bed ... Smiling at Madame de la Grande Bouche as she offered him clothes for the day... Slipping on the simple white suit and black breeches, he proceeded to open the doors of the balcony to allow in some fresh air into the stuffy room... Enjoying, the cooling breeze that blew in, he decided to go the extra step by walking out to the balcony... As he peered over the railing he spotted no other than Angela herself strolling through the gardens.

Suddenly from the bushes sprung out what looked like a red footrest ... Sultan... Beau recalled... remembering Lumiere calling the latter as such... He watched in amazement as Angela gently caught Sultan as it leaped into her arms. Raising an eyebrow as she giggled like a small girl as the footrest repeatedly licked her face. Watching the two oddities play, Beau couldn't help but smile at Angela's antics, with Sultan she seemed to have transformed into a whole another person... A happier...less bitter person... Beau rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe there was more to Angela than meets the eye...

Angela giggled one last time before watching her dog run off to cause more mischief... Last night had proved to be one of the worst... and best nights of her life... Worse because... Well if it weren't for Beau... She wouldn't be covered in bandages would she? Angela cringed as she patted the bandage on her arm... she'd be exaggerating if she were to say she was in agony... But Angela did awaken with a throbbing head and an immensely sore body...

"Stupid boy..." she smiled. Although she did blame him for all of this... Angela was genuinely surprised that Beau actually... didn't leave her out in the wilderness to die... That was admirable of him... If their fates were swapped, she doubted she'd do the same...

"No... You would have most definitely left him out there to die..." she whispered somewhat ashamed... Angela blinked, surprised that she felt guilty about that decision... What was wrong about looking out solely for yourself? It wasn't wrong... It was just a case of... ethics... something she just found beyond her comprehension to care about... Shrugging and not wanting to give this matter anymore thought... she strolled back into the kitchens and made her way to the main foyer before travelling silently up the four flights of stairs to her safe haven. The library...

Grabbing the gold handles Angela proceeded to enter, ready to drown herself within the comforts of her precious books only to stop short in surprise discovering that she wasn't alone...In the middle stood a gaping Beau, his eyes wide with amazement by the sheer number of books the library contained... Angela stiffened, completely shocked by this man's presence, unsure on what to do next... Should she just stand there until Beau noticed her? Or leave to avoid another hostile confrontation? Honestly she couldn't decide but before she could do either, Beau turned around and gasped in surprise.

"Beas...Angela... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to intrude... I'll...I'll leave now." Beau stuttered before turning to exit, knowing all to well what this beast would do if she got angry. Angela blinked at his hasty retreat... Almost reaching out to stop him only to freeze... Surprised by her own actions...

"What are you doing?" Angela growled at herself, her clawed paw subtlety returning to the safety of her long cloak... She wasn't comfortable spending time with him... She wasn't even comfortable sharing a castle with him... Angela knew this... It was awkward, she felt silly, exposed, scrutinized... Out of place in her own home... She didn't like this... Not one bit... BUT THEN AGAIN... she didn't want Beau to keep avoiding her ... It really just defeated the whole point of her holding him as prisoner... So, with great difficulty, she bit the bullet and sighed.

"It's ok Beau... You're allowed in here... I just didn't expect you up so early..." Angela mumbled... her fists clenched.

"Oh... I'm an early riser..." Beau said unnaturally while running... a little too eagerly back into the library.

"Really?"

"Of course..."

Another tensed silence formed with Beau cracking his knuckles and Angela biting her lip.

"You have a beautiful library... With so many books... Its gorgeous!" Beau blurted swinging his hands back and forth nervously. Angela couldn't help but chuckle a little at his enthusiasm.

"I love to read..." She admitted.

"Really? I'd never imagined you as a reading type... no offense..."

Angela shrugged. "None taken..."

They stared blankly at each other, both tongue tied before Angela tried again, with much reluctance and difficulty.

"So you like books huh... Any type of genre you prefer? A favorite author perhaps?"

"I adore Shakespeare..."

"I adore Shakespeare too..." Angela smiled excitedly. Beau flinched. Fear suddenly reflected in his eyes. Angela quickly turned her face away, her ears flattened, her hand over her mouth...

Tension filled silence arrived soon after with both Beau and Angela unsure on what to do next... Beau felt obliged to apologize... He didn't mean to react the way he had... BUT THOSE FANGS... BY GOD...THEY WERE TERRIFYING... Reminded him too much of the wolf that had attempted to tear him to pieces... However, judging by the way she had reacted... She was hurt... And being a gentlemen, he... He reached out to apologize but drew back a second later...

Wouldn't apologising just draw emphasis on her... strange appearance... Wouldn't it just make her feel worse?

Angela on the other hand nervously inched away from Beau... Cursing herself repeatedly for letting her guard down... What was she thinking? Had she forgotten... Forgotten that she was a monster... Did she honestly think... that Beau would not be repulsed by her appearance? How unbelievably naïve and stupid she was... Angela bared her teeth... Maybe she should just leave the room... Yes... Just disappear and act like it didn't faze her... However before she could even move, she saw Beau reach out to her... Instinctively, she moved quickly away, feeling that pity... His pity...was the last thing she needed for her already tattered self-esteem... Freezing in their respective position, they eyed each other cautiously, both looking at each other for any signs of danger... It was a full minute of this before Angela broke the tension.

"Shakespeare's this way..." she said flatly before walking off...

After that... The two spent almost an hour of silence between them. At first Angela tried to squeeze in a word but the years of ignoring everyone's existence had taken its toll and she couldn't find anything appropriate to say... Besides... Beau was to busy "oohing" and "ahhing" at the books he surrounded himself with... He was so blissfully happy with whatever he was reading that it almost felt sinful to interrupt him. Angela groaned silently... She never thought being in a room with a boy... A boy her age could be so... boring... Romance novels always made it clear that being in close proximity to someone of the opposite gender should exciting... A life altering sensation... So far... the whole hour had been rather...unremarkable...

To entertain herself, Angela set it upon herself to study Beau... If he was going to stay here, she might as well get to know him...She noticed that he had a tendency to brush the loose strands of hair off his face only to have them fall back once again... That he enjoyed sitting slanted, to lay his head on his left hand while the right flipped the pages... Angela soon found herself completely mesmerized by this young man... Everything about him seemed so... perfect... His physique, his posture, his mannerisms and God was he attractive... In fact, Angela was so busy staring at him it took her a few minutes to even register that he was staring back...

**Right... So this is the part you scream... WHY NO ROMANCY FLUFFY PLOT... Well... 1) I am generally bad at that so yes... Give me some time to acquire that skill..2) They just met... I don't think ANYONE would give someone they barely know a whole library... Thats... Let me quote the Snow Queen's words "You don't just fall in love with a man you just met..." ok fine its "You can't marry a man you just met..." but same basis... Also, my beast LOVES her library... Its her private garden of eden so sharing it with someone is quite a remarkable feat on her part...Lastly... I don't think the both of them even like each other yet... Its more of a, we got past last night without tearing each other's throats out type of... acquaintance... so that is why... Like it, hate it review and let me know... Also, do you readers prefer that I write these little justifications at the bottom or should I just not do it? Let me know! **


	19. Chapter 19

**"A chapter already?" you scream... Well I keep to my word, the more reviews I get the faster I'll update... I give my thanks to Autobot21 for reviewing and also to the numerous guest reviewers who I wish I knew the names of so I can properly thank them... Thank you :) You're all wonderful and you're criticism means a lot to me :) So this is the next part! Enjoy and review :D**

"Enjoying your book?" Beau asked politely, drumming his fingers against the chair... Highly disturbed that the beast... Angela... was looking so intensely at him... Like a piece of meat ready to be butchered... Was that her intention? Beau didn't know... He didn't want to know...

Angela snapped back in disbelief upon hearing Beau speak, angry that she had let herself be caught...

"Yes... the book..." she chocked her cheeks burning like acid, her heart rate palpitating with each breath... It was only because of Beau's concerned look did she noticed that her claws were digging... a little too deeply into the book cover...

"What are you doing?" she screamed at herself... Immediately she loosened her grip, disgusted by her own behavior...

"Why are you getting so... so flustered about... about him? What's wrong with you? Pull yourself together!" she snapped, sinking deeper into her armchair...

"Yes this book...Its very interesting..." she said, attempting to sound casual, which came of more as monotone and forced, like she had something terrible caught in her throat, making her unable to emote ... Beau nodded and turned quietly back to his book... although Angela did get the impression he wasn't telling her something... Three whole seconds later he finally spoke...

"An interesting observation... Considering your book is upside down..." he coughed finally looking her in the eye.

Angel looked down and to her utter mortification the book was indeed upside down... Quickly she tried to flip it over only to clumsily drop it onto the floor, and when she bent over to retrieve it, she did it with so much force, she tore the cover straight off and all this was done under the watchful eye of a highly amused Beau. Angela swallowed her urge to scream out in frustration. Thank God her blushing was invisible under all the fur...

Beau couldn't help but smile at this beast... and not to mention her dumbfounded expression... The whole spectacle that transpired before him was... Interesting... and also unexpected... He really didn't expect this sort of clumsy, careless behavior to come from her... It was almost comforting... In some really bizarre way...

"You uh... Do you need help?" he offered reaching down to pick up the broken book.

"No..." she said fiercely a fiery sort of determination in her eyes. Hurriedly she picked the broken book up and stormed out of her seat. Beau watched worriedly as Angela trudged towards the fireplace...

"What are you doing?" he asked nervously.

"Why do you care..." came Angela's calm answer as her arm lowered the book closer to the flames...

" What are you.. You don't have to burn it!" Beau yelled in disbelief, shocked by Angela's violent and not to mention irrational tactics. How could anyone bear to burn a book just because cover came off? It was outrageous! Quickly, he sprung out of his armchair and raced forward to save the precious piece of literature only to recoil slightly as those flashing green eyes glared furiously at him...

Angela watched in anger and also a little fearfully as Beau stepped closer and closer to her...

He was just inches away from her now, five more steps and they would have been face to face... his hand was outstretched, as if he expected her to give him the book like some obedient dog...

"You don't have to burn it..." he said cautiously...

"YES I DO! THIS BLASTED THING MADE ME LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT IN FRONT OF YOU!" Angela screamed... mentally... before taking a deep breath...

"So you have a better solution?" she shot back sarcastically while also strategically inching away from him...

Beau sighed... If begging wouldn't do the trick, reasoning would just have to do... Could beasts even reason? He doubted it, the one before him was already just so unreasonable...

"Look, from where I come from, books don't come by as easily as they do here... Did you know, I have to wait months at a time to get my hands on a good book or even a broken one..." he said carefully eyeing the book in Angela's hand. To his relief, his words seemed to have gotten to her as she lowered her arm but raised it again much to Beau's alarm.

"You should have no worries than... This library contains books in every size, shape and color... I'm pretty sure you'll find another one to your liking..." Angela sneered, an almost belittling smirk tugging at her cheeks.

"That's not the point!" Beau yelled before recoiling a little as Angela's glare intensified sending chills down his spine.

"Look... What I'm trying to say is... I don't care about how the book looks; I care about the content..."  
Angela snorted. "Cliché... Don't judge a book by its cover... Like I haven't heard that one before..." she scoffed until the irony of the situation struck her... Abashed, she shoved the broken book to Beau.

"Since you strongly objected... Do what you want with it!" she instructed firmly.

"What?" Beau asked softly.

Angela shrugged expecting him to shove it back... Who would want a broken book?

"So you're giving this to me?" a hint of disbelief in Beau's voice.

"Yes..." Angela nodded slowly only to step back in surprise as Beau's faced turned from one of confusion... to doubt and finally utter jubilation...

"I don't believe it... Thank you! Thank you very much! When we're done with this, it'll be good as new! " Beau declared with pride... He couldn't believe it... He couldn't believe that this... Angela would be so generous... To actually give him a book from her precious library... That was so... That was just so nice of her... Nervously and hoping that he didn't come of as demanding or ungrateful, he tapped her cloak gently...

"Do you have any glue... some thread maybe?"

Uneasily, Angela pointed to a nearby table where it housed all the tools.

Barely able to contain his excitement, Beau didn't spare her a second glance as rushed to the latter... Angela just watched him dumbfounded... Just at loss on what to do... Was he doing this just to humor her or was he genuine about mending the book... Ever so carefully, she tried to search his face for any trace of malice or deception but to her surprise found none... Clueless on how to act and tired of humiliating herself, she decided the safest and easiest course of action was to just leave... Without a word, she turned to exit...

"Wait..." came Beau's voice.

"What?" Angela snarled in exasperation... Sharing the library with this boy was a mistake! A HUGE, STUPID mistake on her part... The one place she felt safe, secure and safe was now...

"Arrrghhh... this boy..." she thought... He just completely aggravated her... He made things... He made things so extremely difficult and not to mention complicated... A simple thing, talking to another person... Why did she find this so hard?

"What Beau?" she muttered, trying to get her breath under control...

"Don't you want to help me with this? He asked innocently, gesturing at the book. Angela stood there hesitantly, her first instinct was to say "NO!" and retreat back into her room where she can safely be herself without feeling like a complete idiot... However, the sight of Beau's outstretched hand was somehow comforting...

"You want me to... You want me to stay with you?" she asked uncertainly, unsure if Beau was trying to trick her... After all...

"Why not?" Beau shrugged before quickly trying to justify himself, seeing how her eye narrowed...

"I mean it was just a suggestion...You don't have to if you don't want to... I will completely understand... I..."

Angela allowed herself a fraction of a smile..."No... I want to... But are you sure?"

Beau managed a lopsided half smile...

"Damn it Chevalier...Be polite... She gave you a book... The least you can do is be friendly... BE FRIENDLY!" he commanded himself.

"Absolutely... I can't do this myself you know..."

With extreme circumspection, Angela padded to where Beau was standing... Maintaining a weary distance so he didn't feel...put off by her...

"Where do we begin?" she asked softly...

**So... I think the justification is pretty much similar to the previous chapter... AND WHY ONLY A BOOK YOU SCREAM? WHY NO LIBRARY? well... The disney version was to whimsical in my opinion so yeah... Also, she didn't even intentionally want to give it to him... It just happened...I think you're also asking... Why is Beau so.. I wouldn't say mean but... Insensitive? Well I reread my previous chapters and I think Beau is just Belle without boobs... Sigh... So, now I'm going to install more personality into this character... Don't get me wrong, Beau is a kind person but lets be honest... If you were stuck in an unknown castle, with some unknown creature for an unknown period of time... You'd be just as doubtful of the beast's intentions as Beau would... and sometimes we can all say things that come of as mean spirited, no matter how good a person we are... So thats the case of Beau, he's not saying or thinking insensitive things intentionally, its just him being cautious... Same goes for Angela... Why make her want to burn a book? Doesn't she love books... No she loves their content... The same story probably a different edition of it must exist in the library somewhere... also, its a mind set she has... Although she's technically an adult, she still solves a problem like an eleven year old because thats the only way she knows how and as she gets older, these methods become more extreme... Therefore when the book caused her humiliation, she wants to burn it and forget it ever existed... Yeah... Ok, enjoy and review!**


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